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The cover of Chip War

Chip War

Chris Miller, 2022

A history of how semiconductor invention, manufacturing, and global specialization created extraordinary prosperity, concentrated chokepoints, and a defining arena of geopolitical power.

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8 parts, about 21 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Shows how tiny chips became the foundation of economic and military power, and how the industry grew so concentrated
  • Helps you read export controls and the Taiwan question as a fight over a few irreplaceable chokepoints
  • Tells the story through companies, engineers and governments, from early transistors to China's push today

Who it is for

  • Investors and professionals trying to understand the chip industry
  • Readers following the technology rivalry between America and China
  • Policy watchers who want context for export controls

What the summary covers

  1. From a Switch to a Strategic Industry3 min
  2. The American System Becomes International3 min
  3. Japan's Challenge and America's Reorganization3 min
  4. A New Division of Labor3 min
  5. Taiwan, Foundries, and the Specialized Chain2 min
  6. EUV, Apple, and Intel's Missed Turns2 min
  7. China's Drive for Technological Power2 min
  8. The Chip Choke and the Taiwan Dilemma3 min

Recommended by

  • Lawrence H. Summers71st US Secretary of the Treasury and former president of Harvard University
    If you care about technology, or America’s future prosperity, or its continuing security, this is a book you have to read.
  • Daniel YerginPulitzer Prize winning author of The Prize
    Essential for understanding our modern world.
  • Niall FergusonSenior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford
    The future of humanity hinges on the ‘chip war’ between two ecosystems vying to design and make the most advanced micro-processors.

About the author

  • Chris MillerHistorian and professor at Tufts University, author of Chip War
    • Graduated from Harvard College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in history
    • Received a Master of Arts in 2011 and a Ph.D. in 2015 from Yale University
    • Was a director of the Program in Grand Strategy while at Yale
    • Became a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 2017
    • Wrote three earlier books, including Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia (University of North Carolina Press, 2018)
    • Is the Jeane Kirkpatrick visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

Read it alongside

  • Goes deeperChokepoints

    Chris Miller shows US chip controls prompting Chinese substitution and selective decoupling; Edward Fishman argues that a defensive restriction can look offensive to the other side and set off an escalating cycle of economic insecurity.

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