Government as Shareholder? Proactive Competitive Strategy or Last Resort?
Debate streaming on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Topics: Economic, World
As global powers increasingly shape markets and take equity positions in strategic industries, the United States is facing renewed questions about its traditionally hands-off approach to the economy. Some actions under President Trump’s second term put the issue front and center as the government has taken stakes in Intel and other companies tied to semiconductors, rare earth minerals, defense manufacturing, and critical infrastructure, claiming these investments are necessary to counter China, secure supply chains, and rebuild industrial strength.
Some argue there is a middle path, where government can take a proactive stake in critical sectors before a crisis, thus strengthening national competitiveness without sliding into so-called state capitalism or undermining the free-market principles of American democracy. Others claim that government intervention should remain a true last resort, preserving a system that allows markets to determine winners and losers while guarding against dependency, inefficiency, unhealthy cronyism, and favoritism toward certain industries.
With our eyes on these companies’ stocks, we debate the question: Government as Shareholder: Proactive Competitive Strategy or Last Resort? This debate was produced in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations and recorded live on May 18, 2026.
ARGUING “Proactive Competitive Strategy”:
Laura Taylor-Kale: Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics and Defense at the Council on Foreign Relations and Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
Richard A. Falkenrath: Senior Fellow for National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations; MJ Chung Distinguished Chair at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University
ARGUING “Last Resort”:
Bob Pozen: Distinguished Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management; Former President of Fidelity Investments
Yasheng Huang: Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management; Author of “The Rise and the Fall of the EAST.”
MODERATOR-IN-CHIEF:
John Donvan: Emmy award-winning journalist
Great debate, as usual. I use AI a lot and have a finely tuned ear to the voice that ChatGPT uses. I don't know this for sure but Laura Taylor-Kale's opening statement set off my AI radar like crazy. Which is very disappointing. It's not that she's not qualified as an expert in this area or that her arguments weren't sound. I believed she prepared for this debate extensively and just used ChatGPT to structure her arguments in the way she thought sounded most persuasive. However, by doing that she created a situation where I cannot distinguish between her and ChatGPT. I can get an AI take on this question any time I want, I come to Open to Debate to hear the opinions of experts who may know things that AI does not. Please ask future debaters not to use AI to write their statements so that I can trust it actually came from them and not an AI.