Will Biden's $50B gamble on semiconductors pay off?

By: Eli Amdur
Vantage Point
USA Today Network

..... Let's say you had a spare 450 billion laying around. What would you do with it?
..... Wait. Let's say you're Joe Biden and you already threw few trillion dollars at things like inflation reduction. American relief, infrastructure, supply chain, and aid to Ukraine - and you still have $50 billion. What would you do with it?
..... In the past, the answer(s) would be defense, social programs, agricultural subsidies, and so on. Predictable, repetitive, unimaginative. Joe Biden's answer was just the opposite: the CHIPS and Science Act, a highly entrepreneurial move.
..... Imaging that: Our government as entrepreneur! It's fantastic, but Joe Biden isn't the first entrepreneurial president. More on that later.
..... Fifty billion dollars. Say it fast enough and it almost sounds easy. But when you think of the 450 billion our federal government has committed to the American semiconductor industry, you start to grasp the size of that commitment, its inherent risks, and, of course, its potential payoffs.
..... This is, in a word, colossal. Yet there are some who don't like the idea, either for fiscal reasons (too much money) or political reasons (government doesn't belong in business). that's because they're looking at it in strictly fiscal or political terms.
..... They shouldn't. this move has entrepreneurialism written all over it, and isn't that what built America? Long range visions, aggressive goals, sharp strategies, bold actions, ambitious outcomes?
..... Without doubt. And the names of those great entrepreneurs who did it are indelibly etched into our history: McCormick, Whitney, Morse, Edison, Ford, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Bell, Morgan, and - of late and more diverse import - Walker (Madam CJ), Winfrey, Gates, Bezos.
..... They - and many more - were entrepreneurs, not just inventors, industrialists, scientists, or financiers. They were entrepreneurs. Nothing less. And so is Joe Biden.
..... Since we don't routinely think of our government leaders as entrepreneurs, let's ask: What's an entrepreneur, actually? Let's take apart the word. Entrepreneur, French, ii built of tow parts: entre, meaning between, and prendre, meaning to take. Put then together and not another word is needed to explain the point. An entrepreneur therefore, is one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.
..... That's exactly what the Biden administration has done - and in the most critical of all industries at a most critical of times. The American chip industry is hurting. We're where chips - were invented and where their manufacture long reigned supreme. But while the design of advanced chips is an American thing, 100% were. In all, only 12% of all chips worldwide are made here. that's why we stumbled so badly and paid so dearly during the supply chain crisis. And while this will raise America's production form 12% to 14%, and seem small, it's not. It's major.
..... But, some ask, what's the government doing in business? Everything it can, and then some. Those who still see this through a political lens, stubbornly and persistently adhering to the belief that government doesn't belong in or anywhere near business, are missing the point.
..... The most sensible point on which to agree as to what a government's role should be is that the government should do all it can to improve the lot of its citizenry wherever each or all cannot do it for or by themselves. Like, for instance, plunking down $50 billion to bolster not just business, but the labor market, tens of thousands of jobs, supply chain strength, and, above all, national security. it is of utmost urgency and only one entity can do it: the federal government.
..... There's great difference, though between knowing something should be done, and actually doing it. That's what great leadership does.
..... It's what Jefferson did with the Louisiana purchase and Lincoln (actually, Seward) did by buying Alaska. More recently and more clearly related to business, it's what FDR did with the CCC, TVA, WPA, and dozens of other highly entrepreneurial initiatives. And it's what Eisenhower did with the interstate highway system.
..... From a centuries-old edition of the oxford English Dictionary comes the definition of another important term in this discussion. Merchant: n, a person who brings something form where it abounds to where it is dear.
..... No, our government is not playing the role of a merchant, but make no mistake: Joe Biden is putting the American chip industry back into position as one.
..... How entrepreneurial!

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