Is Government Ownership Really New or Just Business As Usual? This week on Between The Lies, we're diving into something that looks new but smells awfully familiar. Trump's administration just took stakes in a number of companies including, Intel , MP Materials, Lithium Americas, Trilogy Metals, and US Steel. The media's calling it unprecedented. We're calling it 2008 with better marketing. The TARP Playbook Returns Rob walks us through the 2008 bailouts when the government took massive ownership stakes in banks, auto companies, and AIG to "save Main Street by saving Wall Street." Spoiler alert: Wall Street got saved. Main Street got the bill. The Economic Stabilization Act threw $700 billion at companies that were failing because of their own decisions, purchased their stock with money created out of thin air, and pretended it was capitalism at its finest. But This Time It's Different (Maybe) What makes Trump's approach unique is he's calling it a "sovereign wealth fund" instead of a bailout. The government isn't rescuing these companies - it's buying in to profit from them long-term. Luke connects the dots between semiconductor manufacturing, rare earth minerals, and AI development. When you control the mining of materials, the production of chips, and have stakes in the companies building AI infrastructure, you're not just playing the game. You're rigging it. The Real Endgame: AI Governance Here's where it gets dystopian. AI requires massive computing power, which requires advanced semiconductors, which require rare earth minerals. Trump's administration is positioning itself to control that entire supply chain. Luke argues this isn't conspiracy theory - it's strategic positioning for AI governance, social credit systems, and unprecedented surveillance capability. Why This Matters to You Government choosing winners and losers through ownership stakes isn't new. What's new is the scale and the industry focus. When the government owns pieces of the companies developing AI while simultaneously relaxing AI governance rules, you're looking at a future where Big Brother has better tools than ever before. Rob reminds us that DARPA has been working on AI with companies like Google for years. This isn't the beginning - it's just coming out of the shadows. The question isn't whether this technology gets developed. It's who controls it when it does. The Positive Spin Nick refuses to let us wallow in doom. His takeaway? Nothing much changes. Governments keep making the same mistakes because they're incentivized to make them. But knowing they're going to make those mistakes gives you the roadmap to navigate around them. Learn from history, position yourself accordingly, and remember that the well-capitalized always profit - regardless of what nonsense DC is up to. Ready to understand how to position yourself for government incompetence? Visit PerfectSpiralCapital.com/podcast for Luke and Rob's free toolkit on the future of your money.