Should we run the government like a business?

Donald Trump seems to think so. During his campaign for president, Trump returned again and again to his supposed success as a businessman and promised government programs “under budget and ahead of schedule.” His hotel in Washington would be “a metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country.”

The qualities Trump sees in himself are what he seems have been looking for in his Cabinet. His nominees for the State, Treasury and Commerce departments are successful businessmen with no previous government experience. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao are both heirs to business fortunes.

Trump is not alone in this approach. George W. Bush touted his Harvard MBA. Six decades ago, Dwight Eisenhower’s Cabinet was described as “eight millionaires and a plumber.”

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