Call it industrial policy, state capitalism, old-fashioned socialism: It’s a bad idea. Across several recent administrations, the U.S. government’s role in the economy has grown increasingly intrusive. The current White House has taken things to an extreme. It’s a tried-and-failed experiment that should be scrapped before it does any more harm.

Citing a variety of goals — protecting national security, bolstering supply chains, boosting domestic manufacturing — the administration has been giving itself “a piece of the action,” as the commerce secretary puts it, in company after company.

So far, it has taken a 10% stake in Trilogy Metals Inc.; a $400 million chunk of MP Materials Corp.; a possible 5% share of Lithium Americas Corp., along with a cut of its Thacker Pass project; a “golden s

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