Industrial policy is back in vogue in America, on a grand scale. Applications have opened to companies for a share of the $39bn funding earmarked by last year’s $280bn US Chips and Science Act to build an advanced semiconductor manufacturing capability. Along with the $370bn subsidies for clean energy in the Inflation Reduction Act, the chips project is emblematic of the Biden administration’s approach. Putting the US back among the leaders in top-end chipmaking is likened to a new moonshot. But the White House is freighting it with additional policy aims that endanger the project’s chances of success.One rule of industrial policy is to use it sparingly. Governments in advanced economies have no business intervening widely to support “winners”. Achieving national security goals is one area where a state-led strategy and funding can sometimes be justified — and the White House has a defensible case that reducing US reliance on foreign-made microchips is vital.
產業政策在美國重新流行起來，而且手筆很大。去年2800億美元的美國《晶片與科學法》(CHIPS and Science Act)指定用於建設先進半導體制造產能的390億美元資金，已經開始接受企業申請。晶片項目，連同《降低通膨法》(Inflation Reduction Act)面向乾淨能源的3700億美元補貼一道，是拜登(Biden)政府策略的象徵。讓美國重新躋身高階晶片製造領域領頭羊行列的努力，現在被人比作新的「登月計劃」。但白宮正在爲其附加額外的政策目標，而這些目標危及該項目的成功機會。