The new America rewards bad behavior and punishes good behavior—but Biden doesn’t care.
He doesn't give a fuck.
Four years ago, as he faced the end of his presidency—or rather, as he fought tooth and nail to cling to power—he was willing to set democratic institutions ablaze to get his way. Respect for the country that gave him everything? Only if it aligned with his interests.
When the answer to “What’s in it for me?” wasn’t good enough, he manufactured chaos. His supporters called for Mike Pence to swing from the gallows. Quite the crowd, weren’t they?
From the top. All the way to the bottom.
Now, contrast that with President Biden. On his way out, he’s ordered his team to deliver as much as possible for the American people before the clock runs out. Biden doesn’t care about “what the fuck is in there for him.” His administration is working non-stop, awarding grants and driving investments to rebuild America’s chip manufacturing industry.
While one man burned the house down on his way out, the other is busy strengthening its foundation.
In little over a year, Biden’s commerce team has awarded nearly $40bn to semiconductor makers.
Semiconductors are critical to both America's economy and national security, powering everything from consumer electronics to advanced military systems and emerging technologies like AI and clean energy. While the U.S. leads in semiconductor design and R&D, it has fallen behind in manufacturing, producing only 10% of global chips and none of the most advanced ones at scale.
Design takes place in the United States, but manufacturing is concentrated in Asia. Taiwan leads this sector, with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) serving as the world’s largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry, commanding over 50% of the global market. China, thanks to steady investments, controls the backend processes of the market—where chips are transformed into finished products.
Take the iPhone, for example. Its chip is manufactured in Taiwan, its camera modules come from Japan, its chassis is produced in China, and final assembly also takes place in China. While the design and innovation are done in the United States, the production process is a global endeavor, relying on a tightly integrated supply chain spanning multiple countries. This highlights America's role as a design powerhouse but underscores its dependence on other nations for manufacturing and assembly.
America’s manufacturing capability in this key industry, which will play a pivotal role in the future, was glaringly inadequate. Once the design phase is complete, the U.S. is essentially absent from the market. This poses significant risks both to national security and to industrial competitiveness. These industries are capital-intensive, a fact that Donald Trump and his Wall Street allies seem not to grasp—or perhaps they do but refuse to acknowledge.
Raising tariffs won’t push companies into capital-intensive ventures: To succeed, businesses must endure extended periods of low earnings per share to establish a foothold in the market. A CEO with a short-term, two-year outlook isn’t going to commit to a ten-year plan while forfeiting bonuses tied to share prices.
President Biden’s administration recognized this dilemma. That’s why, in 2022, Biden championed the CHIPS and Science Act, securing $50 billion to invest in the industry. This funding is now flowing at a breakneck pace to foster growth.
The strategy is working. To see the impact of a government that shifts from being a subsidy manager to an active participant in industrial development, consider Intel as a prime example.
The U.S. Department of Commerce directly funded $8.5 billion for Intel’s commercial semiconductor projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon. The Treasury provided tax credits for over $100 billion invested by Intel and offered the company an option to take $11 billion in loans.
The result? With an $8.5 billion investment, tax credits, and $11 billion in loan options, the Biden administration successfully leveraged Intel to invest over $100 billion in the United States over five years. This effort will create a total of 80,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Well-paying jobs for Americans—the kind that can sustain families and communities for generations.
And this is just one project. For $8.5 billion, what did the U.S. get? It gained more jobs, expanded manufacturing capacity, and established critical semiconductor manufacturing jobs on American soil for the first time. These are precisely the kinds of outcomes the Commerce Department is working tirelessly to achieve before the administration winds down.
How many billions will this add to GDP during Trump’s next four years? How many more jobs will be created because of this? Did they even consider asking these questions? No. If they had, they might have walked away, leaving the money unspent. Trump’s team would likely focus on what tax breaks they could offer using the leftover funds from the CHIPS and Science Act.
The CHIPS and Science Act has initiated an investment cycle valued at half a trillion dollars. That’s how you build America’s manufacturing capacity—not by imposing tariffs.
Americans have grown adept at punishing good behavior and rewarding bad. But it seems Biden doesn’t care. I’ve learned something from him today: let’s stop caring about how others behave, and let’s not let their actions dictate our own.
That's really good work by Biden.
Trump won't understand it.
The Australian government is doing something similar with its Future Made in Australia program to encourage local manufacturing in targeted industries.
The Liberal-National Opposition opposes it, of course.