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Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

financialpost.com

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Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#11

Post by kenhwang »

belval wrote: post #3
908B64B197 wrote: post #2

Remember the C-Series plane? Trudeau did absolutely nothing for the industry and immediately bowed down to Trump after he slapped tariffs later judged to be illegal. Well, not exactly, there was whining and a vague threat to switch an order of fighter jets from Boeing to Lockheed. Couldn't inject a little bit of capital at the right time. Airbus swooped in and bought the whole thing at a heavy discount. Engineering s…

Canada is basically just an economic extension to the US. I find it funny when people talk about us developing our own industry for X. We don't do that. Our approach is to be a pool of specialized and culturally similar people for the US to use as cheaper labor (when the loonie is low).

I think it's even more degrading than that. Canada basically exports healthy, educated, wealthy people to the US for little in return (well, other than being best friends with the world superpower anyway).

As long as there's favorable compensation and tax policies on the US side, Canada's brightest, healthiest, and wealthiest will just hop over to benefit from the more favorable conditions there after reaping the expensive taxpayer funded social benefits (healthy upbringing, affordable higher education).

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#13

Post by enriquto »

natrik wrote: post #9

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iroikDYIT5Q... Canada's deficit is among the worst of all relevant countries at the moment.

Which countries are irrelevant?

By the way, your graph only shows the data for Canada. I guess the rest of the countries are irrelevant?

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#14

Post by spir »

kenhwang wrote: post #11
belval wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is basically just an economic extension to the US. I find it funny when people talk about us developing our own industry for X. We don't do that. Our approach is to be a pool of specialized and culturally similar people for the US to use as cheaper labor (when the loonie is low).

I think it's even more degrading than that. Canada basically exports healthy, educated, wealthy people to the US for little in return (well, other than being best friends with the world superpower anyway). As long as there's favorable compensation and tax policies on the US side, Canada's brightest, healthiest, and wealthiest will just hop over to benefit from the more favorable conditions there after reaping the exp…

It's true and sad.

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#15

Post by bushbaba »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #4
belval wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is basically just an economic extension to the US. I find it funny when people talk about us developing our own industry for X. We don't do that. Our approach is to be a pool of specialized and culturally similar people for the US to use as cheaper labor (when the loonie is low).

You’re not wrong, but this actually illustrates why we need to establish industry to counteract this problem. What you’re describing will always be true if we don’t have the initiative to correct it. This stuff seriously concerns me because apart from natural resources, we have very little to leverage. I worry for my kids and their kids. Canada is in a very precarious economic and political position from my perspecti…

Canada has lots and lots of fresh water. And global warming will open lots of farm land.

Could easily see Canada become the agricultural leader of North America.

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#16

Post by david-gpu »

kenhwang wrote: post #11
belval wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is basically just an economic extension to the US. I find it funny when people talk about us developing our own industry for X. We don't do that. Our approach is to be a pool of specialized and culturally similar people for the US to use as cheaper labor (when the loonie is low).

I think it's even more degrading than that. Canada basically exports healthy, educated, wealthy people to the US for little in return (well, other than being best friends with the world superpower anyway). As long as there's favorable compensation and tax policies on the US side, Canada's brightest, healthiest, and wealthiest will just hop over to benefit from the more favorable conditions there after reaping the exp…

> Canada's brightest, healthiest, and wealthiest will just hop over to benefit from the more favorable conditions there after reaping the expensive taxpayer funded social benefits

The bulk of Canadian taxes are paid by the "brightest, healthiest and wealthiest" [0], so the expensive social benefits Canadians enjoy are largely funded by extracting taxes from these people, not the other way around.

Thus, I can hardly blame them for moving to a place where they don't have to subsidize others as much.

[0] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=111000...

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#17

Post by vkou »

bushbaba wrote: post #15
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not wrong, but this actually illustrates why we need to establish industry to counteract this problem. What you’re describing will always be true if we don’t have the initiative to correct it. This stuff seriously concerns me because apart from natural resources, we have very little to leverage. I worry for my kids and their kids. Canada is in a very precarious economic and political position from my perspecti…

Canada has lots and lots of fresh water. And global warming will open lots of farm land. Could easily see Canada become the agricultural leader of North America.

> Could easily see Canada become the agricultural leader of North America.

The agricultural leaders of are countries that are nearly universally dirt-poor.

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#18

Post by throwawaysea »

I don’t understand the case exactly. Is it that there’s room to innovate (like WeavAir, the startup they feature early in the article) or that there’s unmet demand (what the article references with COVID semiconductor shortages)? Certainly innovations can create markets on their own but I don’t see a temporary shortage as being some kind of opportunity to break into the industry. What would they do - build fabs? And if so why would they be able to do that any faster than others? Where will Canada get all the talent something like that requires, not to mention the capital? The article later focuses on winning niche portions of the semiconductor market - which may be feasible if they innovate ahead of others. But it’s easy to wish for that and hard to realize it, especially given all the barriers to business in Canada (tax policies etc).

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#19

Post by foobiekr »

bushbaba wrote: post #15
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not wrong, but this actually illustrates why we need to establish industry to counteract this problem. What you’re describing will always be true if we don’t have the initiative to correct it. This stuff seriously concerns me because apart from natural resources, we have very little to leverage. I worry for my kids and their kids. Canada is in a very precarious economic and political position from my perspecti…

Canada has lots and lots of fresh water. And global warming will open lots of farm land. Could easily see Canada become the agricultural leader of North America.

Did you know that the northeast of the United States was once quite agriculturally productive? The current situation is the result of economics and will benefit long before Canada does and to a much greater extent.

Re: Making the case for a homegrown Canadian semiconductor industry

#20

Post by jcims »

kenhwang wrote: post #11
belval wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is basically just an economic extension to the US. I find it funny when people talk about us developing our own industry for X. We don't do that. Our approach is to be a pool of specialized and culturally similar people for the US to use as cheaper labor (when the loonie is low).

I think it's even more degrading than that. Canada basically exports healthy, educated, wealthy people to the US for little in return (well, other than being best friends with the world superpower anyway). As long as there's favorable compensation and tax policies on the US side, Canada's brightest, healthiest, and wealthiest will just hop over to benefit from the more favorable conditions there after reaping the exp…

Does Canada claw any of that back through expat income taxes?

That would seem to be a more realistic and mutually beneficial economic arrangement than expecting people to ignore an opportunity to make substantially more lifetime income out of allegiance to their birth country. We stole one in Ohio, she even married into the family. Her parents are absolutely amazing folks, just saw them on their way back from wintering in Florida (where they were actually able to get vaccinated, unlike back home where nobody is vaccinated and the cops are facetiming neighbors to make sure there are no visitors.)

Maybe Canada can stabilize as an incubator for cool people and recoup those expenses through the impact they have on the world.

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