Finance & economics | Loading, please wait

The global chip shortage is here for some time

Microchips were a boom-and-bust industry even before covid-19

FOR WANT of a chip, the factory was lost. On May 18th Toyota became the latest carmaker forced to cut production amid a global shortage of microchips, announcing it would suspend work at two of its plants in Japan. Firms including Ford, General Motors and Jaguar Land Rover have also had to send workers home.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Loading, please wait”

Race in America

From the May 22nd 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

President Trump Signs Executive Orders In The Oval Office

Trump’s brutal tariffs far outstrip any he has imposed before

Canada, Mexico and China are going to be made to suffer

A white fish going into the mouth of a group of black fishes forming a bigger fish.

Why your portfolio is less diversified than you might think

The most important idea in modern finance has become maddeningly hard to implement


A German flag waves in front of the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany.

Can Germany’s economy stage an unexpected recovery?

The situation is dire, but there are glimmers of hope


Giorgia Meloni has grand banking ambitions

Will Italy’s nationalist prime minister manage to concentrate financial power?

Tech tycoons have got the economics of AI wrong

Following DeepSeek’s breakthrough, the Jevons paradox provides less comfort than they imagine

Donald Trump’s economic warfare has a new front

The president has threatened to blow up the global tax system. Will allies be able to stop him?