One of the government’s justifications for its new bout of manufacturing protectionism is that everyone else is doing it — not necessarily the best logic for committing billions of dollars to prop up an industry where Australia lacks anything in the way of comparative advantage.
It’s true — the Americans have the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act and the Europeans have their own CHIPS legislation. The UK government in December announced a £4.5 billion “Advanced Manufacturing Plan” that hits exactly the same notes as the Albanese government’s — “strategic manufacturing”, “building supply chain resilience”, “cutting edge technology and driving our transition to net zero” etc etc.
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