American Businesses Face a New Caesar

With days remaining until Tuesday's presidential election, the candidates are making their closing arguments to voters. One area Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have in common is their willingness to wield federal power to favor or disfavor particular businesses. During his 2016 presidential run, Trump promised to "tax the hell" out of Carrier products for relocating an Indiana plant to Mexico. As president-elect, Trump and vice-president-elect Mike Pence (Indiana's governor) cajoled Carrier's parent company, United Technologies, to keep the Indiana plant. The change of heart stemmed from a $7 million gift from Indiana taxpayers and a direct "reminder" from Trump to United Technologies' CEO that the company benefits from billions of dollars in federal defense contracts.