Rick Newman on socialism, Trump-style

Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders applauded Trump’s plan to nationalize Intel and other chipmakers.  Sanders is the same guy who co-authored the Green New Deal, which would have entailed a government takeover of the transportation and energy sectors for many dubious reasons, including promoting “justice and equity” and “repairing historic oppression” of certain ethnic groups.  Trump’s motivation is obviously different, but at a certain point, socialist central planning and Trump’s attempted hostile takeover of capitalism start to look like the same thing.  Stock buyers beware. 

~ Rick Newman, "This week in Trumponomics: POTUS is on an investment spree," Yahoo!Finance, August 23, 2025

 

Mark Weisbrot on how Venezuela nationalizing its oil industry led to improved living standards

Since the Chávez government got control over the national oil industry, poverty has been cut by half, and extreme poverty by 70 percent. College enrollment has more than doubled, millions of people have access to health care for the first time and the number of people eligible for public pensions has quadrupled.

So it should not be surprising that most Venezuelans would reelect a president who has improved their living standards. That’s what has happened with all of the leftist governments that now govern most of South America. This is despite the fact that they, like Chávez, have most of their countries’ media against them, and their opposition has most of the wealth and income of their respective countries.

~ Mark Weisbrot, "Why Chávez Was Re-elected," The New York Times, October 9, 2012