In 2025, political debates and policy uncertainties are likely to revolve around whether the plutocrats (Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg) or the populists (Bannon, Miller, Navarro/Lighthizer) gain the upper hand during the initial phase of Trump 2.0. This will have significant consequences on a range of issues that are of crucial interest to investors, businesses, and analysts/forecasters. Can Trump actually manage to achieve some sort of a 'plutocratic populism' and keep both groups satisfied?
Can Trump handle the new Republican factions?
https://www.ft.com/content/6c2f4485-b4ac-4cb0-b3f7-dac55b04d685
The party is united in personal loyalty to the president-elect, but it is now made up of multiple groups with very different agendas.
Trump’s billionaire oligarchs are rewiring America for a new superpower era
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/19/trump-billionaire-oligarchs-rewiring-america-war-china/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/19/trump-billionaire-oligarchs-rewiring-america-war-china/
America’s New Plutocracy
https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/01/americas-new-plutocracy
The second Trump administration will be the wealthiest democratically elected government in history.
https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/01/americas-new-plutocracy
The second Trump administration will be the wealthiest democratically elected government in history.
Stephen Miller, Channeling Trump, Has Built More Power Than Ever
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/us/politics/stephen-miller-trump.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/us/politics/stephen-miller-trump.html
How Long Can the Alliance Between Tech Titans and the MAGA Faithful Last?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/opinion/donald-trump-tech-musk-bannon.html
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-musk-steve-bannon-trump-adviser-influence-e2f7cc4f
Staff grumbled about Musk’s access, but Trump family shows support.
Trump’s Impossible Task: Delivering for the Working Class and Billionaires
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-18/trump-s-impossible-task-delivering-for-the-working-class-and-billionaires
He’s attempting to pull off plutocratic populism, but the math doesn’t square.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-18/trump-s-impossible-task-delivering-for-the-working-class-and-billionaires
He’s attempting to pull off plutocratic populism, but the math doesn’t square.
Trump's Pro-Corporate Populism Cannot Last
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/unitedhealthcare-ceo-populism-expanding-to-target-business-by-eric-posner-2024-12
Chicago Law Professor Eric Posner:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/unitedhealthcare-ceo-populism-expanding-to-target-business-by-eric-posner-2024-12
Chicago Law Professor Eric Posner:
Europeans must be scratching their heads. America’s Big Tech companies may be widely loathed at home, but they are envied on a continent that struggles to create its own innovative wealth creators. The truth, however, is that these companies’ huge market capitalizations owe as much to their monopoly status as to innovation. They have long downplayed the significant social harms they do, and they constantly lobby policymakers to block regulation. It is little wonder that their stranglehold on American culture is now deeply resented by left and right alike.
Defiance Is Out, Deference Is in: Trump Returns to a Different Washington
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/us/politics/trump-washington.html
As Donald J. Trump prepares to take the oath of office for a second time, much of the world seems to be bowing down to him and demoralized opponents are rethinking the future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/us/politics/trump-washington.html
As Donald J. Trump prepares to take the oath of office for a second time, much of the world seems to be bowing down to him and demoralized opponents are rethinking the future.
Paul Krugman’s Take: The Pathetic Billionaires’ Club