In an interesting turn of events, tech scion Elon Musk (of Tesla and SpaceX) and the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, have reportedly joined Trump’s economic advisory committee. So who are they joining, and what will they recommend?
The full committee is, sticking with tradition, stacked fairly heavily with CEOs. Unlike Obama’s committee, which had a union secretary and a few intellectuals, however, Trump is all business: Kalanick and Musk will be joining a committee that includes General Motors CEO Mary Barra, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch.
Musk, as an advisor, is something of a wild card. His interest in politics has largely been minimal; Musk describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and notably bailed on a popular Silicon Valley political action committee when it began advocating for the Keystone Pipeline, among other moves he viewed as “cynical.” Interestingly, Musk is also adamantly against subsidies for companies that pollute and for carbon taxes, which, to be fair, privileges his business building electric luxury cars.
Kalanick, on the other hand, is fairly easy to predict. An open fan of Objectivism, Kalanick’s decisions are reflected in Uber, which has increasingly been fighting bad press, and Kalanick will likely push for less regulation and supervision by the government on business. That would align with Trump’s statements on the economy. Of course, the committee can only offer advice, not direct policy, so Musk and Kalanick might be getting little more than an honorific. We’ll see in January and after.
(via Business Insider)