Location, Location, Location

Among this era’s most fraught geopolitical questions is whether or not China will launch a military takeover of Taiwan. And one of the key elements in that question is what many consider the most important company in the world. Nicholas Kristof explains in the NYT (Gift Article): “These days it seems impossible to have a conversation about geopolitics or economics without coming back to T.S.M.C., which makes about 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips. If the lights went out here in Hsinchu, in the company’s ultraclean and ultrasecure buildings, you might not be able to buy a new phone, car or watch. Armies could run out of precision-guided missiles and hospitals could struggle to replace advanced X-ray and M.R.I. machines. It might be like the Covid-19 supply chain chip disruption — times 10 — and T.S.M.C., unfortunately, is situated in a region where war is possible and could threaten production. ‘Taiwan Semiconductor is one of the best-managed companies and important companies in the world,’ Warren Buffett said last year. But he sold his $4 billion stake in T.S.M.C. because, he said, ‘I don’t like its location.'”