#Economics

Whether in mobile phones, data centers, or cars – microchips are everywhere, and ongoing shortages affect countless industries worldwide. To boost innovation in the United States, Joe Biden recently signed the $280bn CHIPS and Science Act 2022, of which a large part, $52.7bn, is earmarked for the semiconductor industry. What justifies such an enormous government investment in one industry?

Is the recent action by the Chinese government against Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba simply a long overdue reining in of under-regulated monopoly business or does it signal the beginning of the end for China’s flourishing private sector?