This and vaccine /med production from start to finish within borders is going to be the focus of US and EU going forward I think. For obvious reasons
Global integration of highly specialized industries not particularly dependent upon labor cost is not at all obvious--especially in the face of increasing political instability.
Part of the theory of engaging with China is that pulling it into the world would make them better worldwide citizens.
This has not worked. It has simply made China a bigger bully. So be it.
A gigantic amount of semiconductor manufacturing lives within 400 miles of China. That can't possibly be defended effectively against military action short of moving it a lot further away from China. That's what we're seeing the start of here.
Btw that gigantic ... Other than the Netherlands part, japan, South Korea and Taiwan are all keys here and close to a mad man and a sharp power.
Also noteworthy to mention all these are partially due to the failure of intel more than anything else. If intel keep arm and maintain the same level of chip production.
Ultimately we need at least two sources of critical components for any process rely upon them to be safe whatever the process is.
Huge failure. They should've squeezed them in 1990-1992 as the USSR was dissolving and there was no pressing power to contend with. And North Korea they should've attacked then as well. No other way to solve this when the opponent will use your goodwill against you to play you for decades straight like the Kim dynasty.
Props to economists on having zero foresight ability
A ship gets stuck in the Suez channel.
Let's drill a new channel ...
Which is actually what Egypt is doing, parts of the Canal are already redundant. The Ever Given had the bad luck of getting stuck in a non-redundant section.
Also, I'm not convinced that maximum efficiency is good for everyone. The US had a lot more manufacturing jobs before outsourcing to China. Sure, stuff is cheaper now, but a bunch of people no longer have decent paying jobs, and the labor market is now minimum wage or requires a college degree. I those people formerly doing manufacturing are a good deal poorer thanks to global integration. And we all are going to be poorer if all the economic-losers elect populists, since I can't think of any populists who didn't ruin their country if in power long enough.
Furthermore, I don't understand the fetishization of factory work (that both the left and right seem to have). It's menial, tough, body-breaking work, with long hours in sweaty, dangerous conditions. It's main appeal is to very poor nations where it is less awful than the alternative they had anyway (substance agriculture or starving). It's a good thing that we can become more productive and have higher paying safer jobs in the west and that in 'third world nations', they can find productive work that is safer and higher paying than their previous situation. The US had a lot of factory work when it was a poor nation, but there is no good reason to return. It's the concept of comparative advantage, and it makes us all better off on net.