The Chips Act and National Security

After decades of neoliberalism, how much can America’s bureaucrats crank the dial on effective industrial policy? Will the CHIPS Act succeed at reshoring high-tech manufacturing? Next week is the Chips Act’s second anniversary. To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Ben Schwartz, the former director for national security at the CHIPS Program Office, which manages a $39 billion grant program appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act. We get into:  The methods and obstacles for American semiconductor policy; How CHIPS Act guardrails aim to balance economic growth and national security;  The negotiation process for companies interested in receiving CHIPS Act funding; Reshoring vs friend-shoring and the challenge of Chinese dominance in legacy chip manufacturing; Staffing and organizational structure of the CHIPS Program Office, plus the role of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; The challenge of collecting data on secretive semiconductor supply chains. Outtro Music: The Rolling Stones - You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Youtube Link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices