September 14, 2023 - Did you know that “microchips are the new oil – the scarce resource on which the modern world relies”?
The first keynote speaker at the LSTA’s Annual Loan Market Conference on October 12th in NYC knows this. In fact, he wrote the book on it. Chris Miller is Associate Professor of International History at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and – more critically for us – the author of the highly acclaimed book, “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.” If you’re not familiar with it, Chip War is the Financial Times Business Book of the Year and – even better! – it is a gripping read. The New York Times wrote that it is “pulse quickening…a nonfiction thriller”.
At the LSTA Conference, Professor Miller will discuss how computer chips have made the modern world—and how the U.S. and China are struggling for control over this fundamental technology. Busy with their day jobs, loan market professionals may not know that handful of companies control the manufacturing of all the world’s semiconductors, giving them a chokehold over the computing power on which everything from the biggest data centers to the tiniest Internet-of-Things devices depend. And while this might not be exactly in the loan market’s sphere of influence, the LSTA is committed to offering interesting and insightful conference content that widens all of our worldviews.
