![a semiconductor in china](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/china-semiconductors-chips-act-09272022-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
On Aug. 9, U.S. President Joe Biden helped bolster the United States’ technological lead over China by signing the CHIPS Act. Despite the hype, though, the history shows that governments’ best-laid plans to develop technology often falter amid bureaucracy, inefficiency and an over-reliance on state control.