Eyck Freymann: How to Break China’s Minerals Chokehold
Why the allies need a multilateral commercial stockpile This essay is based on a Hoover History Lab working paper, co-authored with Joshua Stinson, William Norris,…
Thought Leader: Eyck Freymann
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology
At once edifying and entertaining, Chris Miller’s book traces the history of the global semiconductor industry. Early on, firms producing semiconductors depended on demand for their products from the U.S. defense and military establishment. Now, by contrast, that defense establishment depends on the chip industry for critical strategic and battlefield capabilities. Over time, the decisions of charismatic entrepreneurs and less charismatic government officials combined to produce the current international division of labor, whereby advanced chip design is carried out in the United States; essential manufacturing equipment is produced in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States; and over a fifth of all chip fabrication happens in Taiwan—a place that, as a result, has become an economic and geopolitical flash point. “Chip war” now characterizes the U.S.-Chinese rivalry, with Beijing seeking to build up design and manufacturing capabilities and Washington hoping to slow China’s progress. Miller is a fluent narrator, but he finalized the book before recent shifts in U.S. policy, which seek to deny China advanced chip-making technology. He delivers no verdict on whether U.S. export controls will succeed in containing the rise of China’s semiconductor industry or whether they will only spur China to further support the industry and maybe even lead it to move aggressively against Taiwan.
Relevant and recent posts
Chris Miller: Robotics Manufacturing: The Rise of Japan
“To the Americans, a robot is a computer attached to a mechanism. To Japanese, a robot is a mechanism attached to a computer.” The future…
Thought Leader: Chris Miller
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: A New Understanding of Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease, a progressive movement disorder whose hallmark is damage to the dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, afflicts almost 12 million people worldwide. And the…
Thought Leader: Sanjay Gupta
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Chris Miller: Robotics Manufacturing: The Rise of Japan
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Chris Miller: A Competitive Assessment of U.S. Software
Thought Leader: Chris Miller
Chris Miller: Why China Keeps Winning the Trade War
Thought Leader: Chris Miller