China moves up the value chain, to advanced manufacturing and increasingly frontier technology. Why the U.S. still claims to favor free markets.
Over the 20th century, the United States led the world in technological innovation, driven in large part by industrial research laboratories such as Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, and IBM Research. These institutions combined long-term vision, interdisciplinary collaboration, and stable funding to produce breakthroughs that transformed industries and everyday life. Today, however, the landscape of innovation … Read more
This comparison links Bell Labs’ model with China’s land-finance-backed industrial strategy, showing how both employ strategic risk and investment in core industries to secure long-term dominance. Bell Labs achieved technological leadership by investing heavily in foundational R&D, accepting high upfront costs and uncertain returns to drive breakthroughs. Similarly, China channels land-sale revenues into strategic sectors, … Read more
The United States adopts a notably absolutist interpretation of certain civil liberties, particularly the right to free speech, compared with many other democracies. While other nations often balance individual rights against considerations such as public order, human dignity, or social harmony—for example, Germany prohibits Nazi propaganda—the U.S. approach largely rejects such restrictions. This model rests … Read more
Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to serve four presidential terms. Similarly, it is plausible that Xi Jinping could serve four terms, especially against the backdrop of ongoing trade and technology tensions between the United States and China. In some respects, Xi Jinping can be seen as a 2020s counterpart to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The analogy … Read more
China’s industrial ecosystem generates a distinct competitive advantage, a strength that Western competitors such as Northvolt have consistently struggled to replicate. This advantage stems from the integration of multiple industrial elements—ranging from deep process knowledge and supply chain coordination to robust industrial commons and collaborative networks. Each element reinforces the others: process knowledge accelerates innovation, … Read more
Northvolt’s downfall was not merely the result of technical or logistical issues—it stemmed largely from complacency, overconfidence, and hubris, which permeated its strategy, operations, and overall corporate mindset. Overconfidence in Capital and Reputation Northvolt’s early trajectory was marked by a profound overconfidence in the power of capital and reputation. The company assumed that billions in … Read more