Policies designed to avoid economic downturns at all costs can lead to significant long-term risks. Capital and labor become trapped in inefficient companies that would otherwise fail, hindering productivity growth and creating a less dynamic economy.

When governments become top shareholders, corporate focus shifts from pleasing customers to securing political favor and appropriations. R&D budgets are reallocated to lobbying, and market competition devolves from building the best product to playing the policy game most effectively, strangling innovation.

For 15 years, Jamie Dimon has used a prop—a single-page, comically complex flowchart of regulations he calls a "spaghetti chart"—in meetings with regulators and officials. This theatrical tool is part of his successful, long-term campaign against banking regulations.

It's a common error to conflate the CHIPS Act and the October 2022 chip controls. The CHIPS Act was a legislative effort for domestic manufacturing resilience. The executive export controls were a separate national security policy focused on denying China access to high-end compute for military applications.

When facing government pressure for deals that border on state capitalism, a single CEO gains little by taking a principled stand. Resisting alone will likely lead to their company being punished while competitors comply. The pragmatic move is to play along to ensure long-term survival, despite potential negative effects for the broader economy.

The CHIPS Act deliberately de-emphasized funding for critical materials. This was a pragmatic choice driven by tax law: material processing projects don't qualify for the 25% investment tax credit that fabs get. Covering this gap with direct grants would have been too costly for the program's limited budget.

Instead of simply giving TSMC CHIPS Act funds, the administration declared them in breach of DEI covenants in their contract (e.g., build a daycare in a clean room). They used this contractual leverage to renegotiate the deal, forcing TSMC to increase its investment from $60B to over $160B in exchange for waiving the clauses.

Beyond budget expenses, intense political engagement consumes significant managerial time and energy. This focus on navigating policy and lobbying efforts directly detracts from resources that were previously dedicated to product innovation, customer service, and operational efficiency.

Regulatory capture is not an abstract problem. It has tangible negative consequences for everyday consumers, such as the elimination of free checking accounts after the Dodd-Frank Act was passed, or rules preventing physicians from opening new hospitals, which stifles competition and drives up costs.