Gestate

The U.S. is no stranger to industrial policy. Alexander Hamilton favored tariffs and subsidies to diversify the economy beyond its agrarian roots. More recently, investments into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, helped birth the internet—and the companies that sprung up as a result. The agricultural sector has long had government support, and the U.S. has stepped in to help stabilize banks, most recently  in this past spring’s efforts to rescue regional banks.

For the Biden administration, industrial policy is a way to make U.S. companies more competitive and less reliant on far-flung supply chains. “We are having a sea change in how we think about the role of government and the economy, its tools and purposes—a spectrum shift in both parties,” says Scott Kennedy, a China economy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
–Barron’s