Fantastic piece, well worth the read for anyone who wants to see us solve big problems faster. Will be sharing with a lot of my public sector friends across New England!
I’m glad someone is talking about this, by people who have actually been through it.
I’m an American businessman with an engineering background who has done business in China, Taiwan, and the US, and I always roll my eyes when I hear people think the US is a great place to do business. Sure, big, rich market, but procedurally it’s so unnecessarily burdensome. In China, I saw the Shenzhen government building tons of infrastructure for Amazon Sellers, and giving them every advantage possible that Western 3rd party Amazon Sellers had no ability to compete.
In Taiwan, I can just walk into the government office and have my problem solved by talking to people that day.
I think something that gets overlooked in the US industrial policy is the role of housing and urban development. The US cannot rebuild its industrial commons by plopping an isolated, automated factory in the middle of the desert. There needs to be a rich, thriving ecosystem of suppliers. That can only happen if employees do not need a car to get to work (saves employer costs) and employers don’t have to worry about health insurance. It shouldn’t be the employers responsibility, it should be universal, single payer. There’s network, agglomeration effects that those who grew up in the days of the suburbs tend to forget, that early, pre-WW2 industry was so successful was because workers could just walk to their factory.
Another issue is supply chain consolidation and monopolization. Monopolies threaten democracy through market power. Read Goliath by Matt Stohler for more info.
Regardless, I must say, I’m glad people with real credible experience are talking about this. I’ve come to realize that the issues facing the US are not technological, they’re political self sabotaging policies.
Outstanding true story. The good news is something like this had not be done in the US since probalby WW II. The bad news , the same. No modern road map so need to create and innovate, bob and weave through the thickets.
Looking forward to the bagel discussion. Be good to see some discussion of the role of those demanding lots of bagel toppings in making it possible for the bagels to exist in the first place.
The CHIPS act share of total investment is about $50B in 2024 as per this graph, which is still significantly higher than the $1B. Did they get it wrong? Do you think that they've underestimated the investment impact of the CHIPS Act?
In my gut I believe the CHIPS act was good policy and well implemented but I have no data to back that up. What's the metric for success here? How do we know it actually achieved a meaningful and efficient impact?
Like with snap we measure for every dollar spent we get about $1.54-$1.80 worth of economic activity. chips had $39 billion for incentives how do we know we got 39 billion worth of value from spending that?
I look forward to reading more and learning in the process.
(Having worked w Todd before, it is not surprising that he and his trusted colleagues would want to an “after action review” to improve the government,share wisdom and leave things in a stronger better place!!)
Can’t wait to read this. Appreciate there may be limits on what you could publicly share but would be fascinating to see as much of the “guts” of the CHIPS project as possible in terms of actual documentation (the governance org chart, key terms of reference docs, your risk tools etc) and how some of that was arrived at, as I think this kind of stuff often gets overlooked on oral histories in favour of the more strategic discussion at senior levels (which is also super useful but often not how a project ‘feels’ day to day). Subscribed!
This couldn't come at a better time. Glad you're explaining what worked and didn't work in your own voices!
Fantastic piece, well worth the read for anyone who wants to see us solve big problems faster. Will be sharing with a lot of my public sector friends across New England!
Very much looking forward to reading!
I’m glad someone is talking about this, by people who have actually been through it.
I’m an American businessman with an engineering background who has done business in China, Taiwan, and the US, and I always roll my eyes when I hear people think the US is a great place to do business. Sure, big, rich market, but procedurally it’s so unnecessarily burdensome. In China, I saw the Shenzhen government building tons of infrastructure for Amazon Sellers, and giving them every advantage possible that Western 3rd party Amazon Sellers had no ability to compete.
In Taiwan, I can just walk into the government office and have my problem solved by talking to people that day.
I think something that gets overlooked in the US industrial policy is the role of housing and urban development. The US cannot rebuild its industrial commons by plopping an isolated, automated factory in the middle of the desert. There needs to be a rich, thriving ecosystem of suppliers. That can only happen if employees do not need a car to get to work (saves employer costs) and employers don’t have to worry about health insurance. It shouldn’t be the employers responsibility, it should be universal, single payer. There’s network, agglomeration effects that those who grew up in the days of the suburbs tend to forget, that early, pre-WW2 industry was so successful was because workers could just walk to their factory.
Another issue is supply chain consolidation and monopolization. Monopolies threaten democracy through market power. Read Goliath by Matt Stohler for more info.
Regardless, I must say, I’m glad people with real credible experience are talking about this. I’ve come to realize that the issues facing the US are not technological, they’re political self sabotaging policies.
Outstanding true story. The good news is something like this had not be done in the US since probalby WW II. The bad news , the same. No modern road map so need to create and innovate, bob and weave through the thickets.
You made a difference.
Hats off.
Looking forward to the bagel discussion. Be good to see some discussion of the role of those demanding lots of bagel toppings in making it possible for the bagels to exist in the first place.
Super interesting to hear about this.
The data looks a little different from the Peterson Institute. I think you clubbed CHIPS act-related growth with overall electronics growth in that first picture. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2025/chips-act-already-puts-america-first-scrapping-it-would-poison-well
The CHIPS act share of total investment is about $50B in 2024 as per this graph, which is still significantly higher than the $1B. Did they get it wrong? Do you think that they've underestimated the investment impact of the CHIPS Act?
In my gut I believe the CHIPS act was good policy and well implemented but I have no data to back that up. What's the metric for success here? How do we know it actually achieved a meaningful and efficient impact?
Like with snap we measure for every dollar spent we get about $1.54-$1.80 worth of economic activity. chips had $39 billion for incentives how do we know we got 39 billion worth of value from spending that?
Congrats on doing this team!!
I look forward to reading more and learning in the process.
(Having worked w Todd before, it is not surprising that he and his trusted colleagues would want to an “after action review” to improve the government,share wisdom and leave things in a stronger better place!!)
Can’t wait to read this. Appreciate there may be limits on what you could publicly share but would be fascinating to see as much of the “guts” of the CHIPS project as possible in terms of actual documentation (the governance org chart, key terms of reference docs, your risk tools etc) and how some of that was arrived at, as I think this kind of stuff often gets overlooked on oral histories in favour of the more strategic discussion at senior levels (which is also super useful but often not how a project ‘feels’ day to day). Subscribed!
Awesome work everyone
Love it! I am so crossposting this!
I'd love to know more about how industrial policy aligns with employment. https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/to-win-young-men-talk-less-about