Ford’s announcement last week that it would invest $700m and create 700 jobs in Michigan to build electric vehicles is the latest indication that American companies expect the US business climate to improve under a Donald Trump administration.
A significant source of this optimism is the team the president-elect has assembled. It is filled with appointees who have extensive private-sector experience. With a federal budget of more than 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product and a regulatory code exceeding 175,000 pages, government’s outsized role in the economy is undeniable. It makes sense, therefore, for the president to fill important jobs with people who understand how economies are run and businesses succeed. Accomplished businesspeople such as Steven Mnuchin , Wilbur Ross, Linda McMahon and Andrew Puzder will help keep the government focused on faster economic growth and job creation that reaches all regions and communities.
Mr Trump also intends to place business executives in what are generally thought of as non-economic jobs. The most interesting example is the nomination of Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive, as secretary of state. Mr Tillerson has engaged in complex negotiations with the leaders of dozens of countries, invaluable experience that even many top US diplomats cannot match.