From The Economist, "The World in 2021", by Zanny Minton Beddoes (editor-in-chief, The Economist), page 13:
"Chastened by their reliance on important medical supplies and other critical goods (often from China), governments from Europe to India will redefine the scope of "strategic industries" that must be protected. State aid to support this new industrial policy has become and will remain ubiquitous".
Which are/should be these "strategic industries" for Europe in the Entrepreneurial Age?
In terms of "strategic" industries, I think they should be at the crossroads of 1/ being key to our security, 2/ not being too crowded by US tech giants already, 3/ prone to creating local value and increasing social cohesion, and 4/ dramatically increasing convenience in our daily lives.
(One of Europe's many curses when it comes to fostering radical entrepreneurship is that most of its citizens already have a good life: they don't really see why more innovation is needed.)
Typically if I had a say it would be financial services, transportation, healthcare, and housing.
Your comment on "if you have a good life, you don't see why innovation is needed" made me think. Never thought about it before.
Clearly, this is the case of healthcare in Europe. Overall, citizens experience good healthcare services without a huge (individual) economic burden.
However from a system's perspective, we cannot afford it in our Welfare State. As technology (drugs, devices, software) increases the bill, we will not be able to pay for it. We already are not able to pay for it now.
The main rationale to innovate is "to keep it, not to improve".
Which makes me think that this is a good theory (a la Clayton Christensen) to explain why innovation is more difficult in places where standards of living are high.
However, how would we explain the US? They also experience a good life. And certainly innovation is high there.
For me, regarding medical supplies, the thing is, medicine has no internet yet.
When that comes, we will enter the world of « healthcare as a service » by cloud computing tools.
And as Nicolas used to demonstrate, thanks to that, we will be able to go from economies of scale to increasing returns.
Regarding health, I mean to do better for cheaper.
For the US, I think one of the most significant issues is that people with no coverage (around 8.5% 😱) do not vote. And others who are happy with their insurance do not want to share the risk and pay more for others...
On the "strategic industries", I specially like your criteria #3 (related to your recent Deep Tech article): it needs to create local value (ie. jobs, taxes, etc.).
There is one industry where I also see potential "strategic" value for Europe: education (not only higher education, but mainly undergrad). Any views?
From The Economist, "The World in 2021", by Zanny Minton Beddoes (editor-in-chief, The Economist), page 13:
"Chastened by their reliance on important medical supplies and other critical goods (often from China), governments from Europe to India will redefine the scope of "strategic industries" that must be protected. State aid to support this new industrial policy has become and will remain ubiquitous".
Which are/should be these "strategic industries" for Europe in the Entrepreneurial Age?
In terms of "strategic" industries, I think they should be at the crossroads of 1/ being key to our security, 2/ not being too crowded by US tech giants already, 3/ prone to creating local value and increasing social cohesion, and 4/ dramatically increasing convenience in our daily lives.
(One of Europe's many curses when it comes to fostering radical entrepreneurship is that most of its citizens already have a good life: they don't really see why more innovation is needed.)
Typically if I had a say it would be financial services, transportation, healthcare, and housing.
Your comment on "if you have a good life, you don't see why innovation is needed" made me think. Never thought about it before.
Clearly, this is the case of healthcare in Europe. Overall, citizens experience good healthcare services without a huge (individual) economic burden.
However from a system's perspective, we cannot afford it in our Welfare State. As technology (drugs, devices, software) increases the bill, we will not be able to pay for it. We already are not able to pay for it now.
The main rationale to innovate is "to keep it, not to improve".
Which makes me think that this is a good theory (a la Clayton Christensen) to explain why innovation is more difficult in places where standards of living are high.
However, how would we explain the US? They also experience a good life. And certainly innovation is high there.
I will keep thinking about it.
For me, regarding medical supplies, the thing is, medicine has no internet yet.
When that comes, we will enter the world of « healthcare as a service » by cloud computing tools.
And as Nicolas used to demonstrate, thanks to that, we will be able to go from economies of scale to increasing returns.
Regarding health, I mean to do better for cheaper.
For the US, I think one of the most significant issues is that people with no coverage (around 8.5% 😱) do not vote. And others who are happy with their insurance do not want to share the risk and pay more for others...
Another good reflection is the via negativa. Which industries should NOT be "strategic" for Europe?
On my list:
Defense / Military
On the "strategic industries", I specially like your criteria #3 (related to your recent Deep Tech article): it needs to create local value (ie. jobs, taxes, etc.).
There is one industry where I also see potential "strategic" value for Europe: education (not only higher education, but mainly undergrad). Any views?