When President Donald Trump announced in August that the federal government took an equity stake in Intel, he bragged that taxpayers had "paid zero" for part of a company now "worth $11 billion." In reality, taxpayers paid plenty: $8.9 billion in subsidies with potentially more to come. The government simply dressed up the giveaway as an investment, which some leaders see as only the beginning.
If you're not deafened by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's cheers, you'll hear economists from the right and the left expressing alarm. Politicians picking winners, subsidizing favored firms, and now grabbing government ownership stakes create the market distortions that conservatives once decried.
Also, acting as both regulator and shareholder generates conflicts of interest on an epic scale. Will Washington regulate Intel as forcefully as the company's competitors or tilt the field? The question answers itself.
