America Needs to Sort Out Its Industrial Policy Confusion
In case you haven’t noticed, Washington has been agitated about China lately. Lawmakers introduced more than 500 bills and resolutions mentioning it by name in the last Congress, a nearly fivefold increase from the 112th Congress a decade prior.
As Rob Atkinson writes in The Hill, the backdrop for this activity has been an intensifying geopolitical rivalry. That’s why nearly one in five bills mentioning China last session also mentioned “national security,” and more than half mentioned “trade” or “technology.” But beyond the clear consensus that the United States is locked in fierce competition with China—and that America’s strength stems from its economic power, which is based on technological leadership—there has been no unified strategy or organizing principle in evidence.
This creates a stark contrast: China is rapidly becoming a dominant economic and technological force by carrying out a state-orchestrated industrial strategy, and America is responding with… industrial policy confusion.
