Track 06Module 3 of 53 sources
Chips, technology and the US-China contest
Understand the semiconductor supply chain well enough to interpret export controls and Taiwan risk.
Key ideas
- Leading-edge chips depend on a handful of firms: design in the US, lithography in the Netherlands, fabrication in Taiwan and South Korea.
- Export controls target chokepoints in that chain. Each new rule shifts revenue between firms and countries.
- Semiconductors lead the equity cycle. Their relative strength is an early read on technology spending.
- Taiwan is the single largest concentration risk in the global economy.
Start hereWatch or read these first. They carry the core idea.
Semiconductors explained in 16 mins | Chris Miller
Video · Big Think Clips · 16:26
The supply chain in sixteen minutes.
CoreThe standard references. Work through them once the idea is clear.
Book
Chip War 2.0: The Global Battle for Semiconductor Supremacy│Chris Miller (The Author of “Chip War")
Video · World Knowledge Forum│세계지식포럼 · 40:03
The same author on the current phase of the contest.
Practice
When the next export-control headline lands, list which listed companies gain and which lose. Check the semiconductor index against the S&P 500 over the following week.
See it live
Where this leads
06.1 · Geopolitics and MarketsMeasuring geopolitical risk and how it pricesUse risk indices and market prices together to decide whether an event matters for a portfolio.05.5 · Macro and LiquidityCycles, debt and maniasRecognise the stages of a credit cycle and the anatomy of a bubble while they are happening.