The crown jewel of Taiwan from the perspective of Macroeconomics is TSMC. TSMC is investing $65 billion in a fab complex in Phoenix, AZ with the help of $6.6 billion in grants and $5 billion in loans from the CHIPS Act.

Despite some early hiccups, TSMC's Arizona chip yield is now reportedly equal or better than in Taiwan. TSMC in building two more fabs in Arizona, but the total output is still tiny compared to the global market. The US economy is dependent upon TSMC's Taiwan operations. Onshoring at least some chip manufacturing was a wise strategic investment.

IMO, in the pantheon of the greatest industrialists in history, TSMC founder Morris Chang is right up there with Henry Ford. At Texas Instruments he created the sales and production model for chips we know today. Previously, chips were manufactured in batches for a specific customer. Chang implemented manufacturing chips continuously at below cost. But because the cost was low, new customers created new applications for the chips, driving demand. As production increased, costs naturally fell, increasing demand more and squeezing competitors on price. After being passed over for promotion, Chang went onto found TSMC.