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Sovereign Wealth Fund: My Initial Opinion
FREEPe | 2/4/2025 | Me

Posted on 02/04/2025 7:50:07 AM PST by Recovering_Democrat

I see there is an idea being floated by President Trump regarding a "sovereign wealth fund" wherein taxpayer monies, controlled by a federal government entity, would be used to buy interests in private business.

Trump says maybe the SWF would invest in Tik Tok, and other companies.

Someone help me make sense of this: what is this if not socialism, or direct government control of what ought to be a private sector interest.

I don't like this idea.


TOPICS: Cheese, Moose, Sister; Chit/Chat; Conspiracy; Society
KEYWORDS: capitalism; corruption; sowhat; swf
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Am I misunderstanding the idea of a Sovereign Wealth Fund? Cuz it sure sounds like a fund that helps gov't buy businesses and thus be able to squeeze out any competition.

After the Patriot Act (which I initially supported) I am VERY SUSPICIOUS of giving ANY more power to the federal government. Regardless of the good intentions of anyone promoting the Patriot Act, the law eventually became a weapon that was used to bludgeon Americans and their liberty.

thoughts? (I posted this in general chat, so don't get mad like I did it without a link...)

1 posted on 02/04/2025 7:50:07 AM PST by Recovering_Democrat
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To: Recovering_Democrat

You nailed it. It is socialistic. It’s just a different way of doing a bailout.


2 posted on 02/04/2025 7:53:01 AM PST by TBP (Decent people cannot fathom the amoral cruelty of the Democsrat cult..)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

Imagine poopy-pants Biden in charge of a few trillion of fun money.

That’s where this will end up.


3 posted on 02/04/2025 7:53:58 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (Call Traitor General Milley back into service, bust him to private, courtmartial, convict, hang.)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

I guess it depends on the nature and extent of any dividends the sovereign citizens will enjoy.


4 posted on 02/04/2025 7:54:11 AM PST by Fester Chugabrew
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To: Recovering_Democrat

I don’t like it either. It’s hard to believe Trump would propose such a thing.


5 posted on 02/04/2025 7:54:37 AM PST by ComputerGuy
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To: Recovering_Democrat

I don’t think federal governments should have sovereign funds. I get the idea and I like the idea, at a good faith level. However, it will just end up being a slush fund for the Democrats. Unless some iron clad law can be written to keep it at hands length, it’s going to end up being a source of corruption.

Even counting for welfare and every social benefit, you wouldn’t have a debt if it weren’t for the corruption in the federal government if all its other spendings had been done honestly and for the benefit of the American people.

I can see Heaven having a Sovereign fund of its own, but that’s the only place I could trust in having one.


6 posted on 02/04/2025 7:55:32 AM PST by Jonty30 (Groundhogs don't falsify their predictions for grant money, whereas climate scientists do. )
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To: ComputerGuy

I hope it was a trial balloon.


7 posted on 02/04/2025 7:56:02 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

I’m not wild for it either. I don’t like the govt being an investor in private enterprise.


8 posted on 02/04/2025 7:56:03 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: TBP

It’s fascistic. Any cooperation of government and business is, by definition, fascism. No matter how clean and unauthoritarian it is, it’s fascism.


9 posted on 02/04/2025 7:56:45 AM PST by Jonty30 (Groundhogs don't falsify their predictions for grant money, whereas climate scientists do. )
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To: All

The primary problem is it exposes further the somewhat lack of meaning money has.

Norway has the largest SWF in the world. Over $1T and yes, they own stocks (I think largest Nestle’s shareholder). KSA has a large one, too. They were a big buyer of the Saudi Aramco IPO years ago.

The big issue here is . . . Norway and KSA both fund their SWFs from real money, from oil.

If we were to do such a thing, it would come from borrowed money given the deficit is $2T and our oil exports are miniscule compared to Norway and KSA.

They are used more as pension funds than as market moving entities. When you have all that oil export, you don’t need to care about stock prices. You have plenty of money for your populace without deficit printing a penny.


10 posted on 02/04/2025 7:58:15 AM PST by Owen
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To: Recovering_Democrat

if it’s tax money then it should be returned to the tax payers ...


11 posted on 02/04/2025 7:58:18 AM PST by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

Somebody whispered in Trump’s ear. Let’s call it a Sovereign Wealth Fund . . .


12 posted on 02/04/2025 7:58:34 AM PST by aspasia
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To: dfwgator

That’s one balloon bound for a short ride, I hope.


13 posted on 02/04/2025 7:59:12 AM PST by ComputerGuy
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To: dfwgator
I'm hoping Trump is using rope-a-dope to get the Dims to howl that the govt shouldn't be funding the political class' money making projects.

Basically the Dims will destroy their own arguments for why we should keep around things like USAID that is nothing but a leftist slush fund.

14 posted on 02/04/2025 8:00:00 AM PST by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

Bookmarking for later. My wife was telling me about this last night, and I want to show her what FR thinks later.


15 posted on 02/04/2025 8:01:00 AM PST by hoagy62 (Hail Trump! Trump won! By a lot!)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

I like the idea of the fund because it is like a 401k. I do not like the idea of the government purchasing and taking over a private company with it.


16 posted on 02/04/2025 8:05:12 AM PST by Openurmind
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To: Recovering_Democrat
Sovereign wealth funds are investment vehicles owned by countries. Most act as an investment account, or as a development tool, or a combination of the two. They are designed to be a nest egg, allowing current money to be deployed in a way that benefits future generations. ,P> It is a clever idea. Invest in strategic business we need here rather then in China (i.e. chip manufactures etc). Get dividends from those business as they grow that are returned to the US Treasury. I wish he would add a sinking fund that would force all ROI in this fund to paying off national debt. But I know, actually thinking instead of repeating the same old slogans and dogmas you posted to each other for 30 years is verboten here.
17 posted on 02/04/2025 8:06:03 AM PST by MNJohnnie (Don't blame me, my congressman is MTG!)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

The economic term for it is actually fascism. And before people go nuts, I am not calling them nazis. It is the model where the government doesn’t own all of the means of production. It is where the government is a “partner” with businesses—in essence the government decides which companies are their most favored. It creates a fiduciary tie with the private sector that quashes competition. Even shorter: The government, by their actions, picks winners and losers.

Now some will say that the government already does this with companies like Lockheed and Boeing or General Dynamics. In terms of building critical defense infrastructure it makes sense.

Strategic Reserves are a different animal. Having a government reserve of gold, silver, platinum, oil, and other major currencies is an essential part of national banking systems.

Does “owning” Tik-Tok fall into those categories? I don’t think so.

I don’t trust any government to do these things objectively. It leads to corruption and misconduct.


18 posted on 02/04/2025 8:06:17 AM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: MNJohnnie

On paper it does seem like a good idea.

But can you avoid its eventual corruption?


19 posted on 02/04/2025 8:07:52 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Recovering_Democrat

It is a bad idea. I hope it never amounts to much.


20 posted on 02/04/2025 8:10:02 AM PST by EastTexasTraveler
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