Harvard economist Willy Shih on the hidden supply chain economics behind the AI boom
The Verge AI · rss · 2026-11-05
On The Verge's Decoder podcast, Harvard Business School professor and economist Willy Shih discusses his new book Where Does My Stuff Come From? and the hidden supply chain economics of the AI era.
Key points
- Shih applies first-principles thinking to supply chains: in 2019 he predicted Foxconn's Wisconsin LCD fab would never materialize because the supporting supply chain — even enough concrete and structural steel for a panel plant — simply wasn't there.
- Tariffs trigger circumvention, not reshoring: Chinese components now ship via new ocean routes to Mexico for assembly, then enter the US under USMCA. Alaskan fish still get processed in Qingdao because it's cheaper.
- Record Q1 2025 imports from Ireland reflect front-running of tariffs; the following half-year was spent burning off inventory.
- The conversation also covers China's dominance in panel manufacturing driven by heavy subsidies and industrial policy, and how AI is devouring global computing resources amid an unprecedented infrastructure buildout.
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