Industrial Policy's Inescapable Uncertainty Problem

Among the many Biden administration economic policies from which Vice President Kamala Harris stubbornly refuses to separate herself, industrial policy is near the top. In speeches and campaign materials, Harris has repeatedly and vocally championed the "targeted" tariffs, subsidies, Buy America rules, and other policy measures that have been implemented over the last four years to boost U.S. manufacturing, security, and the economy. Capitolism has addressed many of the storm clouds hovering over those policies, the success or failure of which is still very much TBD, but the toss-up 2024 presidential election provides yet another: the inevitable uncertainty baked into almost all American industrial policy, regardless of its form or merits. Economic Policy Uncertainty Matters. A Lot.