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This was kind of expected due to the shutdowns required by most countries during the chaos of COVID. Of course we need our infrastructure to be more robust, but

This was kind of expected due to the shutdowns required by most countries during the chaos of COVID. Of course we need our infrastructure to be more robust, but no use crying over spilt milk.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
There have been calls for some time to treat semiconductor manufacturing as in the interest of national security. The funding and policy isn't onerous to do so, and "never let a crisis go to waste." Something similar was already done for rare earths [1]. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=rare+earth+us+national+security https://www.google.com/search?q=rare+earth+us+national+secur...
- xeromal 6y ago
  That's not an incorrect way of thinking! If we need it to be effective for self-defense and existence, it probably needs to be protected as such.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    For sure. It's clear that in many cases (from pandemic experience), resiliency and supply readiness should be prioritized above cost efficiency.
  - Nasrudith 6y ago
    I would call it technically correct but useless only because of how ill defined and exploitable national security is as a notion to bypass all objections by turning everything into an existential threat. Everything is in some degree important to national security - entertainment is a matter of national security because bored soldiers are less vigilant.
- aksss 6y ago
  Something similar was "thought of" for rare earths but I don't think anything practical has come of that yet. Opening new mines in the US is not a process I'd call quick. It's more in the "I'll believe it when I see it" column. You think getting a pipeline across the Midwest is difficult? Just try strip-mining in Alaska. But yeah, if the government is serious about securing supply chains, then it's not enough to have semiconductor manufacturing here, one also needs to be able to source the inputs closer to home (quartz, etc). And I'm not even sure it requires government to directly fund the manufacturing/mining - it would be enough if government took a "not-hostile" attitude towards the environmental and engineering approvals, and then incentivized domestic sourcing.
  - livueta 6y ago
    I'd have thought the same as you, though I very recently heard some hopeful news on that front: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/30/the-u-s-is-trying-to-reclaim-its-rare-earth-mantle/ https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/30/the-u-s-is-trying-to-... The relevant part is kind of buried but tl;dr: new mines do take a while (but are in the works). Luckily, there are old mines that can be productively restarted: > “Our mission as a company is to restore the full supply chain,” said James Litinsky, CEO of MP Materials, the new owner of the U.S.’s only rare-earth mine, located in Mountain Pass, in California’s Mojave Desert. > “We are probably further ahead than people realize.” > MP Materials restarted the mine in 2017; the previous owner, Molycorp had declared bankruptcy a few years prior. > “It was mismanaged for some time,” Litinsky said. Mountain Pass’ reserves are particularly rich in rare earths and now supply, in unpurified form, 15% of the rare earths consumed globally each year.

This was kind of expected due to the shutdowns required by most countries during the chaos of COVID. Of course we need our infrastructure to be more robust, but no use crying over spilt milk.

toomuchtodo 6y ago

There have been calls for some time to treat semiconductor manufacturing as in the interest of national security. The funding and policy isn't onerous to do so, and "never let a crisis go to waste." Something similar was already done for rare earths [1]. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=rare+earth+us+national+security https://www.google.com/search?q=rare+earth+us+national+secur...

xeromal 6y ago
That's not an incorrect way of thinking! If we need it to be effective for self-defense and existence, it probably needs to be protected as such.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  For sure. It's clear that in many cases (from pandemic experience), resiliency and supply readiness should be prioritized above cost efficiency.
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  I would call it technically correct but useless only because of how ill defined and exploitable national security is as a notion to bypass all objections by turning everything into an existential threat. Everything is in some degree important to national security - entertainment is a matter of national security because bored soldiers are less vigilant.
aksss 6y ago
Something similar was "thought of" for rare earths but I don't think anything practical has come of that yet. Opening new mines in the US is not a process I'd call quick. It's more in the "I'll believe it when I see it" column. You think getting a pipeline across the Midwest is difficult? Just try strip-mining in Alaska. But yeah, if the government is serious about securing supply chains, then it's not enough to have semiconductor manufacturing here, one also needs to be able to source the inputs closer to home (quartz, etc). And I'm not even sure it requires government to directly fund the manufacturing/mining - it would be enough if government took a "not-hostile" attitude towards the environmental and engineering approvals, and then incentivized domestic sourcing.
- livueta 6y ago
  I'd have thought the same as you, though I very recently heard some hopeful news on that front: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/30/the-u-s-is-trying-to-reclaim-its-rare-earth-mantle/ https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/30/the-u-s-is-trying-to-... The relevant part is kind of buried but tl;dr: new mines do take a while (but are in the works). Luckily, there are old mines that can be productively restarted: > “Our mission as a company is to restore the full supply chain,” said James Litinsky, CEO of MP Materials, the new owner of the U.S.’s only rare-earth mine, located in Mountain Pass, in California’s Mojave Desert. > “We are probably further ahead than people realize.” > MP Materials restarted the mine in 2017; the previous owner, Molycorp had declared bankruptcy a few years prior. > “It was mismanaged for some time,” Litinsky said. Mountain Pass’ reserves are particularly rich in rare earths and now supply, in unpurified form, 15% of the rare earths consumed globally each year.