| The Israel example doesn't pass the sniff test. While Israel didn't build the next "Intel", it built the next Cisco (Palo Alto Networks), Symantec (Wiz), Akamai, and it's own "Intel" (Tower Semiconductors), and Israeli VC has absolutely cornered the Enterprise SaaS and cybersecurity industry. Yet, concentrating on business creation seems to ignore the fact that high value industries like much of tech just don't generate that much employment. The high-tech sector only represents a little over 11% of overall employment in Israel [0] Median gross salary is around $2800/mo [1] yet tech salaries are around $10,000/mo [2] While the tech industry is extremely prominent in Israel, it isn't a major employment generator. Most Israelis don't work in tech and are impacted by extremely high CoL - Israel has some of the highest cost of living among OECD countries [3] This article posits that additional industrial policy can help rebuild large employment industries. While I am strongly in favor of industrial policy, most high value industries are high value EXPLICITLY because they are heavily automated or have low headcount requirements. Industrial policy for the sake of generating employment simply doesn't work when high value jobs have significant barriers to entry (no, not everyone can code and not everyone can synthesize biopharmaceuticals). [0] - https://innovationisrael.org.il/en/press_release/2025-high-t... [1] - https://www.xn----1hcmgxnk8ede.co.il/%D7%9B%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%... [2] - https://www.bizportal.co.il/general/news/article/20017760 [3] - https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/icp/data |