Here's the first of a thread in which Henry Farrell updates the thesis of a previous book in light of today's developments:
1. Six stories in the last few days about the weaponization of the world economy. It's very strange for @ANewman_forward and me to see the logic of our 2019 article (and forthcoming book - Underground Empire - Holt 2023) playing out. https://t.co/Z742KIljsl
— Henry Farrell (@henryfarrell) October 12, 2022
The thread is interesting. But I've a "but". I remember back in the early Clinton administration when there was a big controversy over export controls on 486 chips (the hot PC cpu of the day). The Times made a big thing out of it, in my view misunderstanding the problems of coordinating regulations between two cabinet departments. Anyhow, Moore's law quickly made the 486 a dead issue. It suggests to me that the "weaponization" which Farrel describes might be a bit more impressive on the surface, than it is when you get into the details.
Bottom line: It's difficult for bureaucrats to keep up with innovation; even more difficult for Congress to keep up.
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