‘Volt Rush’ Review: Electric Cars, Money and Mines

WALL STREET JOURNAL ……… Among the pandemic’s many disruptions, in early 2021 auto makers cut production because of a shortage of semiconductors. Car manufacturers today already spend more money on silicon than on steel, and that goes double for the makers of electric vehicles (EVs). The mainstream arrival of EVs owes as much to silicon…

Why CHIPS Won’t Change the Game

CITY JOURNAL ……… When Congress passed the CHIPS Act, a bill seeking to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, the Washington Post trumpeted it as “a new era of industrial policy.” One might also call it a version of “capitalism with Chinese characteristics”—a foray into state-directed market policy.

‘Restarting the Future’ Review: You Can’t Touch This, BOOK REVIEW

WALL STREET JOURNAL ……… I was primed to be excited about “Restarting the Future: How to Fix the Intangible Economy” by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake. The book’s core claim is that “the economy is partway through a fundamental change from one that is largely material to one that is based on ideas, knowledge, and…

All of the Above

CITY JOURNAL ………. If we needed just one example of the labyrinthine nature of global oil markets, it would be the fact that even as President Biden was visiting Saudi Arabia to cajole the kingdom to increase oil production, the Saudis were buying oil from Russia. Those purchases, at the embargo discount, allow the Saudis…

What It Will Take To Make The Energy Transition Happen: PART 4

RBN ENERGY ……….When you boil it down, there are only two energy-related responses to Russia’s war on Ukraine. First, there’s a big push to find sources of crude oil, refined products, natural gas and NGLs to replace Russian supplies as quickly as possible. Second, governments on both sides of the Atlantic are scrambling to reaffirm…