Kudlow Floats U.S. Government Equity Stakes in Companies Helped

The White House’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the administration may consider asking for an equity stake in corporations that want coronavirus aid from taxpayers.

“One of the ideas is, if we provide assistance, we might take an equity position,” Kudlow said Wednesday at the White House, adding that the 2008 bailout of General Motors had been a good deal for the federal government.

Larry Kudlow

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

But Kudlow cautioned that the idea was just one of many, and that the ultimate form of the coronavirus stimulus legislation would depend on what emerged from negotiations with Congress. “This thing is ...