Some of Trump’s supporters have been seduced by the prospect of “free-market authoritarianism.” They imagine he’ll use his power against woke colleges and the media but also be “pro-business” and lift taxes and regulations. If the tariffs didn’t burst their bubble, maybe this will.
The Cato Institute provides an analysis:
Today, President Trump ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to “communicate … price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers.” …
If HHS determines that pharmaceutical manufacturers have failed to make “significant progress” (whatever that means) toward those targets, things get ugly. In that event, Trump commands: …
- The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission “shall…undertake enforcement action against any anti-competitive practices.”
- The Commerce Department and other agencies “shall…consider all necessary action regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or precursor material.”
- The Food and Drug Administration shall “review and potentially modify or revoke approvals granted for drugs.” …
HHS does not have the power to “impose” price controls on private pharmaceutical purchases. If it did, some past administration already would have exercised that authority. But Trump might be able to impose price controls even without statutory authority. Congress has granted the executive branch so much power already, and so much discretion in using those powers, that the president may be able to claim this power that Congress never granted. What drug manufacturer would risk having HHS, DOJ, the FTC, Commerce, the FDA, and other federal agencies simultaneously taking action against them?
It turns out there is no such thing as “free-market authoritarianism.” Like most authoritarians, Donald Trump views himself as the owner and manager of the national economy, whose mercurial orders everyone must obey if they want to be able to do business.
