On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Fox Business Network host Charles Payne discussed the government taking a 10% stake in Intel and said that because of how complex and powerful computer chips are, “we want to make sure that we keep a pulse on this.” And the situation is “not unlike the bailouts of the auto industry. So, we’re bailing out a key company, we must have supremacy when it comes to semiconductors.”
Host Gillian Turner read reporting from The Wall Street Journal that, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the government won’t be on the board or play a major role in company governance and then said, “A lot of folks were surprised by this, in the sense, Charles, that the president seems so often to advocate for the private sector — the government getting out of the way of the private sector, not interfering, no matter the industry, no matter the purpose.”
Payne responded, “Right. Well, the computer chips, there used to be a saying that demographics were destiny. Right now, I would say that semiconductors and computer chips will be the destiny of who’s able to have the most dominant society. And they have become so powerful and so intricate that we want to make sure that we keep a pulse on this. Also, listen, this is a company that, when you add the 2.2 billion they already received from the CHIPS Act, we’re talking $11.1 billion. They’re already getting this money or are aligned to get this money from the American taxpayer. What this says is that the U.S. government will get a stake at $20 a share. It closed at $24 a share, and, not unlike the bailouts of the auto industry. So, we’re bailing out a key company, we must have supremacy when it comes to semiconductors. This has nothing to do with Adam Smith, this has nothing to do with Ricardo, this has nothing to do with orthodox economic policy, and everything to do to make sure that we dominate in a place that will determine which countries are number one in the world for the next couple of decades.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Read the full article here