Just a few years ago, the phrase "industrial policy" was employed mainly as a term of abuse in the US. Economists almost universally insisted that state interventions to improve competitiveness, prioritise investment in strategic sectors and structure market incentives around political goals were backward policies doomed to failure - whether applied in America, Asia or anywhere in between.

The political consensus that had prevailed since President Ronald Reagan, across both Republican and Democratic administrations, favoured free markets, trade liberalisation and deregulated finance. President Bill Clinton, for instance, reduced trade barriers and the regulatory structure around finance as enthusiastically as both Bush administrations.