Innovation Files: Where Tech Meets Public Policy

The United States used to be a leader in semiconductor production, but its share of global output dropped from 37 percent in 1990 to just 12 percent in 2019. That helps explain why the country now faces serious supply issues. Rob and Jackie sat down with John Zysman, a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley and co-founder/co-director of the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, to discuss why U.S. semiconductor production is down, what it portends, and how America can regain its footing in the industry. Mentioned:Stephen S. Cohen and John Zysman, Manufacturing Matters: The Myth of the Post-Industrial Economy, (Basic Books, 1987).Related:Rob Atkinson, “Potato Chips, Computer Chips: Yes, There Is a Difference” (ITIF, December 2020).Rob Atkinson, “Computer Chips vs. Potato Chips: The Case for a U.S. Strategic-Industry Policy” (ITIF, January 2022). Stephen Ezell, “Incentives Essential to Ensuring America Possesses a Leading Semiconductor Industry” (ITIF, February 2022).

China is taking an authoritarian approach in its quest to be a dominant power in technology and global affairs. Silicon Valley innovator and former Under Secretary of State Keith Krach has a unique perspective on both aspects. Rob and Jackie sat down with him to discuss how China is impacting global market competition and what it means for U.S. competition policy. MentionedKeith Krach, “Present your China contingency plan at the next board meeting,” Fortune Magazine, April 2022.RelatedRobert D. Atkinson, “China’s ‘State Capitalism’ Is Not Capitalism” (ITIF, August 2021).Robert D. Atkinson, “A Remarkable Resemblance: Germany From 1900 to 1945 and China Today,” International Economy, January 20, 2021.Robert D. Atkinson, “Who Lost China?” (ITIF, July 2018).

The United States has been a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) since the 1950s. But AI and other advanced industry leadership in the United States has been threatened by increased competition with China. Rob and Jackie sat down with Arthur Herman, a senior fellow and director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative at The Hudson Institute, to discuss how AI leadership in the United States has eroded and what policymakers can do to save it for the future. Mentioned:Arthur Herman, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, (Random House Trade, November 2013).Arthur Herman, The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World, (Mariner Books, 2021).Related:Rob Atkinson, “Don’t Fear AI” (European Investment Bank, June 2018).Hodan Omaar, “Creating an AI Bill of Rights Is a Distraction,” Financial Times, October 2021.Daniel Castro and Michal McLaughlin, “Who Is Winning the AI Race: China, the EU, or the United States? — 2021 Update” (ITIF, January 2021).

Daniel Crane, the Frederick Paul Firth Senior Professor of Law at University of Michigan, discusses how decades-old dealer-distribution laws hinder innovation and consumer choice in the electric vehicle market. Topics include challenges with car dealerships, asymmetric information in car buying, power dynamics of car dealerships, and competitiveness in the automotive industry.

Venture capitalists know what it feels like when a company is firing on all cylinders. But it’s been a while since the whole country had that feeling of dynamism—so why not focus on companies that help the cause by supporting the national interest, solving critical problems, and doing fundamentally new things? Rob and Jackie sat down with Ben Horowitz and Katherine Boyle of the leading VC firm Andreessen Horowitz to talk about investing in American dynamism.MentionedBen Horowitz, The Hard Things About Hard Things (Harper Business, 2014). Ben Horowitz, What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture (Harper Business, 2019). Rob Atkinson, The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation that Drive Cycles of Growth (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005). Related“Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy,” ITIF event, January 2014.Luke Dascoli, “AI Start-Ups Attracted Over 21 Percent of The World’s Venture Capital in 2020” (ITIF, January 2022).John Wu, “A Small Business Innovation Research Grant Doubles an Energy-Technology Company's Chances of Later Receiving Venture Capital” (ITIF, May 2017).

Technology is rapidly developing across many sectors—and that is especially true with wireless technologies. 5G phones give consumers better, stronger, faster service and more capacity to download. But 5G goes beyond phones, it provides great innovative capacity for businesses. Rob and Jackie sat down with Susie Armstrong, senior vice president for engineering at QUALCOMM, to discuss what makes 5G unique and how it impacts smart factories, healthcare, and more. RelatedDoug Brake, “ITIF Technology Explainer: What Is 5G?“ (ITIF, September 2018). “A National Strategy for 5G, With Doug Brake,“ ITIF Innovation Files podcast, July 2020. Doug Brake, “A U.S. National Strategy for 5G and Future Wireless Innovation” (ITIF, April 2020).

Trade tensions between the United States and the EU have increased over the past few years. Decreasing those transatlantic tensions while promoting fair competition will be especially important with the challenge of a rising China. That is a key goal of the new U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Rob and Jackie sat down with Denis Redonnet, the EU’s chief trade enforcement officer, to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the TTC and the broader implications for trade policies in the United States, the EU, and in the World Trade Organization. Mentioned:Rob Atkinson, “Advancing U.S. Goals in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council” (ITIF, September 2021).Related:Nigel Cory, “How the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council Can Navigate Conflict and Find Meaningful Cooperation on Data Governance and Technology Platforms” (ITIF, December 2021).Nigel Cory and Wendy Cutter, “Time for an Upgrade: Moving WTO Negotiations Into the Digital World” (ITIF, May 2020). “China vs. The WTO: Two Decades of Dissembling and Dysfunction,” ITIF Event, December 2021.

China’s rapid technological development has put tremendous pressure on the United States to remain competitive in strategically important industries. Rob and Jackie sat down with Matt Turpin to discuss what the United States has done so far to face the China challenge and what future policies should look like. Turpin is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and has served as the National Security Council’s director for China and as the senior advisor on China to the Secretary of Commerce.Mentioned:James Fallows, “China’s Great Leap Backward,” The Atlantic, December 2016.Rob Atkinson, “Weaving Strategic-Industry Competitiveness Into the Fabric of U.S. Economic Policy” (ITIF, February 2022).Related:David Moschella and Rob Atkinson, “Competing With China: A Strategic Framework” (ITIF, August 2020).Rob Atkinson, “The Case for Legislation to Out-Compete China” (ITIF, March 2021). “How China’s Role in Technology Development Affects the United States and the World, With Sam Olsen,” ITIF Innovation Files podcast, February 2022.

China views technology and the tech companies that produce it as strategic assets to be leveraged in a global race for geopolitical advantage. That’s why it doesn’t treat its domestic champions as players in a free market—the point is to make sure they win at the expense of Western competitors. Rob and Jackie sat down with entrepreneur and strategist Sam Olsen, author of What China Wants, to discuss the implications of China’s technological development. Mentioned:Sam Olsen, What China Wants, (Substack, 2022). Stefan Link, Forging Global Fordism: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Contest over the Industrial Order, (Princeton University Press, 2020). Related:Rob Atkinson, “China’s ‘State Capitalism’ Is Not Capitalism” (ITIF, August 2021).Rob Atkinson, “The Case for Legislation to Out-Compete China” (ITIF, March 2021).Rob Atkinson, “The U.S. Needs to Copy China’s Tech Strategy to Remain the Top Economy in the World” (ITIF, November 2019).

Concerns about China’s rapid rise in recent decades have affected U.S. policies on technology, innovation, and industrial competitiveness. Rob and Jackie discussed the history of Chinese industrial policy and its implications for America and its allies with Barry Naughton, the So Kwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at UC San Diego and author of The Rise of China’s Industrial Policy, 1978 to 2020. Mentioned:Barry Naughton, The Rise of China’s Industrial Policy, 1978 to 2020, (Academic Network of Latin America and the Caribbean on China, March 2021). Nigel Cory, “Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation,” (ITIF, April 2021).Related:Rob Atkinson, “Time for a Coherent U.S. Strategy to Address Chinese Innovation Mercantilism” (ITIF, March 2020).Rob Atkinson, “What Is Chinese “Innovation Mercantilism” and How Should the UK and Allies Respond?” (ITIF, June 2021).“Chinese Innovation Mercantilism: An Essential Reading List of ITIF Policy Analysis and Commentary” (ITIF, June 2020-2021).