Why Business Leaders Won’t Object to Trump’s Tariffs

Podcast audio:

In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Ben Bayer and Onkar Ghate challenge the myth that America is ruled by plutocrats, exposing how fear of governmental threats drives business decisions.

Among the topics covered:

• How CEOs’ silence in the face of Trump’s destructive tariff policies debunks the myth of plutocracy;
• How threats from the Trump administration instill fear in America’s top producers;
• How attacks on Zuckerberg and other CEOs reveal that business has no allies;
• Why businessmen are not the rulers of the system but the pawns;
• The urgent need for business leaders to stand up for themselves.

Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s essays “The National Interest, c’est moi” in The Objectivist Newsletter,  “America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Onkar Ghate’s lecture “Freedom and the Need for Business to Stand Up for Itself,” and The Atlas Circle.

The podcast was recorded on March 25, 2025 and posted on March 27, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.