Trump Flirts with Price Controls

About this episode

The episode discusses President Trump's economic proposals that challenge free-market principles and their implications.

President Trump’s recent embrace of economic proposals run sharply against free-market orthodoxy, exploring three headline-grabbing ideas: capping credit-card interest rates, banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, and restricting dividends and stock buybacks by defense contractors. Why is a Republican president is advancing policies more commonly associated with progressive populism? Drawing on economic history, constitutional law, and real-world market behavior, Epstein argues that price controls, capital restrictions, and politicized contracting consistently backfire, harming consumers, workers, and innovation alike. The conversation situates Trump’s proposals within a broader populist strategy, assesses the political incentives behind them, and warns that ignoring basic economic lessons risks repeating some of the most durable policy failures of the past.

People in this episode

Host: The Civitas Institute

Guest: Epstein

Topics covered

• price controls
• economic policy
• populism
• market behavior
• political incentives

Keywords

• Trump
• price controls
• credit-card interest rates
• dividends
• stock buybacks
• populism
• economic history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin

Places: United States

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