For subscribers
Warnings from history for a new era of industrial policy
The danger is not that America’s reshoring push fails, but that it succeeds
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Careless industrial policy can provoke retaliation, particularly at a time when sophisticated goods are produced along cross-border supply chains.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Economist
“Free trade is almost dead,” declared Mr Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, dampening the mood at an event in December to celebrate a milestone in the building of the Taiwanese chipmaker’s new fab in Arizona. The remark was not out of character.
In July, he called America’s effort to bring chipmaking home an “exercise in futility”. Until recently, rich-world governments mostly shared his judgment. But worries about supply-chain security in a fraught world are prompting experimentation. History provides some reasons for optimism – as well as many for concern.
