America’s industrial decline was a choice. Reversing it is, too. First Solar CEO Mark Widmar's new op-ed in @RealClearEnergy compares two solar technologies over the same decade against the same adversary — crystalline silicon, which was lost to a state-backed Chinese buildout; and CdTe thin film, which remained in American hands through deliberate choices on IP, manufacturing, and supply chains. The lesson for critical minerals, batteries, and semiconductors: structural advantages compound. So do dependencies. The on-off switch for American industry stays in American hands if we choose to keep it here. Read the full piece: #FirstSolar# #AmericasSolarCompany# #AmericanManufacturing# #EnergyIndependence# #IndustrialPolicy# #MadeInAmerica#

China treats AI as industrial policy. Our labs treat it as theology, a race to birth a machine god. Beijing's play: commoditize the complement. All that frontier lab market cap gets transmuted into demand signal to scale the stack below the models: power, chips, minerals, etc. American can and must win the full stack.

Trump promised manufacturing jobs. He has no economic development initiative or industrial policy. He failed. ✅ Lost over 75k manufacturing jobs ✅ Trade deficit still over $1 trillion ✅ Manufacturing employment is down by 200-300k at 7.9% and wages are flat.

These are dark days for free-market economists, @AllisonSchrager says, with wide-spread support for interventionist government actions such as price controls and industrial policy (via @opinion)

At the launch today. A beautifully designed event, and a government website that actually works like a product. Every manufacturer I know loses hours to federal paperwork. Making that easier is real industrial policy. Nice work @jgebbia and the @ndstudio team!

Coming up at 9:15 CET: day 1 of the 11th ECB Annual Research Conference. Today’s programme includes sessions on globalisation, geoeconomics, critical dependencies and industrial policy. Tune in

Our Strategist Michelle Weaver talks to Michael Zezas and Jessica Alsford, Co-Directors of the Morgan Stanley Institute, about how AI, energy resilience and industrial policy are changing investment decisions. Tune into the latest Thoughts on the Market.

Why did private firms, not state-owned enterprises (SOEs), come to dominate China’s EV sector? My new @ChinaJournal article (co-authored with Xiao Ma @maxiaoalex) challenge the "top-down industrial policy" narrative. The real engine? Strategic alliances between local governments and private capital. 🧵 Based on 3+ years of fieldwork, 60+ interviews (with officials, entrepreneurs, and engineers), and rich first-hand accounts, we show how strict central regulations inadvertently drove local states to bet big on private EV players. Here is the story: (1/15)