Chip War : The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology

 
　　今日的晶片技術價值之高，可謂是當代「新石油」，一個全球都爭先搶後的稀缺資源！現代無論是軍事、經濟，甚至是各國的政治權力基礎，都可以說是建立在電腦晶片的基石上，這說法並不誇張，畢竟大至飛彈武器，小至家庭廚房必備的微波爐；從人手一機的智慧型手機，到掌握全球經濟命脈的股市市場，背後無一不靠晶片運作。目前美國尚還保有最強大、高速的晶片設計能力，足以讓其坐在晶片的龍頭寶位上，然而美國與各個競爭對手如台灣、南韓的距離卻越來越小，其中尤以中國最為虎視眈眈。本書中指出，近幾年來中國砸了數十億美元發展研究，為的就是要追趕上美國的腳步。此一大舉動，自然危及了美國在全球的軍事和經濟體的優越地位。
 
　　經濟史學家克里斯．米勒，在本書中詳細記載了小小的半導體，是如何成為當代操控政治和經濟的重要因素，以及美國在一開始如何在晶片設計和製造取得先機，並將技術進一步發展至軍事上。另一方面，中國在晶片發展上的野心以及軍事的先進改革，又是如何追趕而上，與美國齊頭並進。美國曾讓晶片製程的關鍵部分脫離其掌控，這不僅導致全球晶片短缺，並讓最大競爭對手有機可乘。透過本書，讀者將更進一步了解如今貿易大戰中最重要的角色──晶片。(文/博客來編譯)

　　You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing. Now, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more on chips than any other product, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America’s military superiority and economic prosperity.

　　Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the technology works and why it’s so important, recounting the fascinating events that led to the United States perfecting the chip design, and to America’s victory in the Cold War by using faster chips to render the Soviet Union’s arsenal of precision-guided weapons obsolete. But lately, America has let key components of the chip-building process slip out of its grasp, leading to a worldwide chip shortage and a new war brewing with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap.

　　Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War shows that, to make sense of the current state of politics, economics, and technology, we must first understand the vital role played by chips.