The Plutocracy Puzzle: Billionaires and Elections

Billionaire families contributed roughly 18% of all money raised during the 2024 election cycle. And many of those mega donors are being tapped for high-level positions in the incoming Donald Trump administration. This begs the question: Is the U.S. government controlled by the ultra rich? David Sirota, founder and editor in chief of The Lever, said he believes the U.S. resembles an oligarchy. On the show today, Sirota explains how the erosion of campaign finance regulations has created a culture in which big money in politics is normalized.

Then, we’ll get into China’s latest move in the ongoing chip trade war with the United States. Plus, what’s the correct way to pronounce “pecan”?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Election 2024: How Billionaire Avengers Destroyed Democracy” from The Lever
• “What’s different about billionaire donor Elon Musk’s relationship with Trump” from Vox
• “How billionaires are influencing the 2024 U.S. election” from Axios
• “Battle of the billionaires: the mega rich spending to swing the US election” from Financial Times
• “Remember that study saying America is an oligarchy? 3 rebuttals say it’s wrong.” from Vox
• “China bans export of critical minerals to US as trade tensions escalate” from Reuters
• “SpaceX Weighs Tender Offer Raising Valuation to $350 Billion” from Bloomberg
• “​​Yes We Pecan, with Martha Stewart” from NPR

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