Government Won’t Fix the Semiconductor Shortage

Jerry Sanders, a former chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association and a founder of Advanced Micro Devices , predicted in the 1970s that “semiconductors would prove to be the crude oil of the information age.” It was an understatement.

Midprice automobiles today are controlled by 100 or more silicon chips. Cars couldn’t meet legal standards for mileage or pollution—or even start—without chips, let alone connect to the internet or display a fancy digital dashboard. A supply shortage on only one or two chips can shut down an assembly plant that...