Meanwhile, Europe and China…

Software may be eating the world, but what allows it to exist is microprocessors and, more generally, semiconductors. Who makes and can sell microprocessors and other microelectronics “chips” controls whether the rest of the world can live in the 21st century or noto.

So, make yourself a favour and read those posts, to know why everybody should care about this summary of “infrastructure investments and regulatory reforms that could make the United States a more attractive place to build new chipmaking capacity."

The conclusions of that summary are that:

(the “fabs” mentioned below are the really high-tech, really expensive manufacturing plants for complex computer chips)

[In December 2021] the U.S. has a substantial deficit in semiconductor manufacturing. From 1990 to 2020, China built 32 fabs [of great capacity], while the rest of the world only built 24 fabs of the same category during the same time period.

The United States had no greenfield (“new”) fab projects that involved construction of factories with [great capacity] during this 30-year time period.

Getting the fab construction projects [that the US needs] completed on time and on budget will necessitate that regulators help clear the way.

Meanwhile, China and Europe…

While the US was checking its chipmaking status, China pulled a big chipmaking heist. The European Union, instead… had already acknowledged nine months ago that the EU should “go alone at microchips”, but little has happened yet. And since this will be, at least in the medium/long term one of the major strategical “world wars” of our age, we all need to pay attention.