Why the Chips Act Signals a Return to ‘Industrial Policy’ | WSJ

Concerns about China’s growth in chip manufacturing has helped create bipartisan consensus for boosting U.S. microchip production. The $53 billion Chips Act seeks to end the U.S.’s reliance on foreign-made semiconductors, especially those used by the Pentagon.

After the end of the Cold War, industrial policy fell out of favor in Washington, but pandemic-induced supply chain shocks have created a new example of the federal government using its cash to remake an industry it sees as crucial to national security.

0:00 How new technologies are usually government funded
1:01 Industrial policy, explained
3:24 Why the U.S. is heavily focused on the chip industry
6:26 Effectiveness of industrial policy: will the Chips Act achieve its goal?

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#China #ChipsAct #WSJ

[Thinkingaroundthebox]

It is probably the best thing that came out of COVID
People have come to realize the dangers of relying to heavily on the global supply chain
The CHIPS Act is in response to the realization of how fragile our society is when not able to get cheap goods from other countries

[ArchesBro]

Tariffs don't make domestic products cheaper, it makes foreign products more expensive due to the additional tax. Shaking my head

[SquizzMe]

Technology from barely 10 years ago would be unthinkable for us to go back to.

[prabhatgodse]

People complain about Solyndra forget that govt also gave a loan to Tesla in the same funding. Which was wildly successful.
Investment has risks govt or venture capital doesn’t matter. It’s ok to fail from time to time. Govt investments have generated tons of benefits: Moderna, gps, internet etc

[SquizzMe]

All in a day's work for a nation, tbh. These countries are doing the same dance that hundreds of past competing civilizations danced before them. It's kinda fascinating watching this historical cycle play out in front of us, but it's mostly sad because it's all so futile.

[Dr.Jekyll_]

The most important technologies are discovered and created by the government because they are not limited by what is profitable. Corporations only care about what will make them money, in fact they will slow innovation and stop competition if it means they get to make more money by forcing customers to keep on buying old and outdated tech.

[juanlee]

so moral of the story- War leads to innovation ..

[MrLuhuazhao]

now every country wants to build their own chip industry.

[borissergijevic]

The problem is quite complex. It appears that not only new chip companies in the US are facing problems, but existing ones are also struggling to remain sustainable. The primary goal of the US should be to preserve the existing chip companies, which have experienced a significant reduction in their markets by 50% over the past few years, especially when the US sanctioned China. The second issue is that investing in and substituting smaller new chip companies may also enlarge the problem for existing chip companies, making it even more challenging for them to compete. This could eventually lead to big damage to the US chip industry, which is the opposite of what they hope to achieve. Meanwhile, when China becomes chip independent, it will be an additional competition on the global market.

[shannonbrown]

A return to industrial policy is a good idea. I seem to remember reading about times when America was an industrial leader. We should get back to that. Plus, military research has created a lot of technological advances, but now our military just kills without advances for mankind. Not cool.

[regolith]

Semiconductors are at the very heart of EVERYTHING in our modern world. If we lose control of chips, we start to lose control of everything from smartphones to fighter planes. Semiconductors are way more important than solar panels or flatscreen TVs. The closing statement is an important insight: that this was the rare case of bipartisan support precisely because semiconductors are different. People who are opposed to these policies "out of principle" either don't understand the state of the chip/tech industry and/or don't understand the true nature of the Chines Communist Party. People who never make exceptions to their "principles" are dogmatic, not virtuous.

[nesseihtgnay]

Finally we bring back American technologies to America

[ankhprime]

3:04 The robotic arm literally says Canada on it.

[pauldannelachica]

Microchips are the new oil and gold of the world because of Ai and advanced technology in consumer goods military and space

[josephsapida]

This is a leverage in the long term. For economies to advance now a days, you need chips. It’s practically modern oil and gas.

[scottgriffin]

The US Government F-ups everthing. I have worked in the semiconductor industry for the last 35 years. It was much better in the early 90s.

[briangreenberg]

Intelligently directed public investment is different from dumping subsidies on already profitable tech companies without conditions.

[aragon]

There is no shame in learning and following China if industrial policy is useful and beneficial.

[ropro]

I love that we're finally bringing back chip fab to the US, but how are we going to staff all these facilities? 🤔

[flfydragon]

And THIS is why I have been shouting from the rooftops for a decade that we've been STUPID for cutting our public R&D megaprojects.
Not only do we need a new moonshot in chips, we need "moonshots" in biotech, bionics/cybernetics and energy storage & production YESTERDAY.

That's how you remain a world leader.