If you like driving a car or using a smartphone or computer, pay attention.
 | By Suein Hwang Business, Economics and Technology Editor, Opinion |
If you never thought you cared about semiconductors, consider this: Our economy — really, our functioning as a society — is heavily dependent on this product that is mostly made on a tiny island under threat from neighboring mainland China. |
Chips are everywhere. Without them, many of us can't work. We can't operate our smartphones. We can't drive our cars. We can't guide our missiles. President Xi Jinping of China has made clear he believes that Taiwan, where some of the most cutting-edge chips are made, is part of China's territory, and tensions over that claim are high. |
In response, the U.S. government has begun what may be one of its largest forays into the private sector since World War II, in hopes of bolstering America's production of cutting-edge chips. But will it work? |
In a guest essay this week, Steven Rattner, who headed President Barack Obama's auto task force, takes a look at this effort. "I agree that in today's more globally competitive and insecure world, a more robust industrial policy is called for. I just hope that logic and prudence will prevail in the ongoing debate," he writes. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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