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It's worth noting that, at least on the electronics manufacturing side (which is indeed what we're talking about here) the undeniable success story of TSMC was very much a government-led capital structure from the beginning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSMC#History

Government can often be a failure-prone capital allocator, but it can also result in improved alignment when an entire industry with wide socioeconomic implications is about to be born.

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What you are describing is basically subsidies. Taiwan lowered the capital cost of TSMC thus made them more competitive than their competitors.

The Chinese did much of the same with their tech sector especially Huawei if I remember correctly with gigantic tax breaks and cheap financing.

> What you are describing is basically subsidies

In this case, subsidies (and incentives) are 'governments throwing money at engineering problems'. The US does the same for SpaceX, EV manufacturers, and the entire military industrial complex – with the latter making tech controlled by the government

TSMC, Korean chaebols, Japanese corporations.

But I'd still hazard the exception rather than the rule, globally.

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