The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

David Stockman: Trump's War on Capitalism and Freedom

Jan 31, 2024

David Stockman, former budget director under Ronald Reagan, discusses his political journey, critiques Donald Trump's policies, and expresses hope for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s impact on the 2024 election. They explore Reagan's defense budget increase, Trump's policies favoring Wall Street, flaws in Milton Friedman's views on central banking, problems with the war on drugs, impact of regulations and spending on the underground economy, and capitalism's role in material improvement.

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Introduction

00:00 • 4min

Reagan's Defense Budget Increase

03:31 • 16min

Trump's Policies: Wall Street vs. the Rest of the Economy

19:38 • 15min

An ad for Zbiotics, a pre-alcohol probiotic drink

34:18 • 2min

Flaws in Milton Friedman's Views on Central Banking

36:18 • 15min

The Problems with the War on Drugs

51:46 • 27min

Regulations, Spending, and the Underground Economy

01:18:43 • 3min

Capitalism's Role in Material Improvement

01:22:06 • 4min

As Ronald Reagan's first budget director, former Michigan congressman David Stockman led the charge to cut the size, scope, and spending of the federal government in the early 1980s. He made enemies among Democrats by pushing hard for cuts to welfare programs—and he ultimately made enemies among his fellow Republicans by pushing equally hard to slash defense spending. His memoir of the era, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed, is a legendary account of how libertarian principles got sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

Stockman's new book is Trump's War on Capitalism, and it takes a blowtorch to the former president's time in office. "When it comes to what the GOP's core mission should be…standing up for the free markets, fiscal rectitude, sound money, personal liberty, and small government at home and non-intervention abroad," he writes, "Donald Trump has overwhelmingly come down on the wrong side of the issues."

At a Reason Speakeasy event in New York City, I talked with Stockman about his political journey from being a member of Students for a Democratic Society who protested the Vietnam War to being one of Reagan's main advisers to his denunciation of Donald Trump and his hope that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy helps throw the 2024 election into the House of Representatives.

Stockman also explains how Trump led the disastrous charge on COVID-19 lockdowns, got rolled by Wall Street and the Federal Reserve, and why his nativist views on immigration are inimical both to freedom and economic growth.

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The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy. Go here for an online archive and go here to sign up for information about upcoming events.

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