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'Complete Collapse of Normal Governance'

Foreign policy expert and top US economist Jeffrey Sachs sharply criticised the "breakdown" in US governance amid news reports claiming the presence of tech billionaire Elon Musk during the March 24 phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. In an interview with ANI, responding to the question on the reported presence of Musk, Sachs said the situation, if true, pointed to a deeper institutional crisis in the United States. He said, "We have almost a complete, if it's true, and I assume that it is, as the way you're describing it to me, we have almost a complete collapse of normal governance in the United States. It looks like a big, powerful federal government, but there is no structural decision-making anymore. This is somehow a small gang at the top of this apparatus.

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Sachs added that he had not personally seen the news report making the claims. " I have no idea what Elon Musk is doing on this call. I used to call him the prime minister of the United States when he was hanging around in the early days of the administration," describing the situation as "completely bizarre." He further alleged that the growing influence of wealthy tech elites was reshaping US political power structures. "Silicon Valley paid for this government. This is another feature of the breakdown of the American political system," Sachs said, adding that the American system is "completely corrupted."

'Corrupted by Outside Money'

He said," In addition to everything else, the security state, the secrecy, the ability for a small group to take control of American power, the American system is completely corrupted." He alleged that the American system is corrupted by "outside money" and put the emphasis on the presence of "Israel lobby" and "Silicon Valley" in determining the US policies. "It's corrupted by outside money because we have created a political system in which it is the billions of dollars of campaign money that determines the policies of people in power. So you buy policies. The Israel lobby is just one part of that story. But in our reality today, the most powerful interest group in the United States is Silicon Valley. And they are very powerful for a couple of reasons," Sachs said.

Influence of Tech Billionaires

Highlighting the concentration of wealth, he said, "Ten people led by Elon Musk have a net worth of USD 2.6 trillion. That's a lot of money. That's enough to buy the US government to have put Vance into the vice presidency, to essentially own this administration. So that is one part." He added, "They're using that for cashing in on Pentagon contracts, Palantir's contract, which said that it's going to manage the information resources of the US military, is just an astounding example of that. Just to say, this group owns the AI technology. The Pentagon doesn't have it. So there's another element here which is really quite astounding."

Government Dependence on Private Tech

Sachs also pointed to the dependence of US institutions on private technology firms."The government has to turn to these people to actually put the satellites up, if it's SpaceX, or to actually run the AI and do target assessments for the Pentagon, because there isn't the in-house capability of the American military. A small group in California that has the cards, as Trump likes to say," he said.

He warned that this concentration of financial, technological, and media power in a small group was unprecedented. "There's an extraordinary, unprecedented concentration of political power, media power, technology power, financial power in a small group," Sachs said.

'Collapse of the Constitutional Order'

Sachs emphasised that the reported presence of Musk on the call reflected a deeper systemic issue in US governance. He said, " For whatever reason, Musk was on that call, which is completely bizarre. It is a reflection of this fact of who's really in charge, in what effectively is a collapse of the constitutional order of the United States."

MEA Denies Musk's Presence

Regarding the US news outlet's report claiming the presence of Elon Musk on the call on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs categorically stated that only PM Modi and the US President were on the call. A statement by the MEA said, "We have seen the story. The telephone conversation on 24 March was between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump only. As has been stated earlier, it provided the opportunity for exchange of views on the situation in West Asia." (ANI)