China has hit back on U.S. sanctions against its microchip industry with restrictions of its own,

targeting American manufacturer Micron. As the U.S. government tries to establish a stranglehold

on this sector that is so crucial to the future of the world economy, China is aiming to expand

its own productive and technical capacity.

The battle over microchips is a central part of the economic front of the new Cold War.

We need a new system.

We need a new society.

We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not

only realizable, but an imperative necessity. necessity. We are very excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us for a regular weekly segment where we discuss the biggest stories relating to the economy, the state of

the working class, and the crimes of big business. I'm Walter Smolerick, filling in for Brian Becker.

The Socialist Program brings you content three days a week thanks to the support of our patrons

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listening to the show. Richard Wolfe is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work

and the author of many books, the latest being The Sickness is the System when Capitalism

Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or itself. You can check out all of his work at rd.wolf.com.

So, Professor Wolf, let's talk about the trade war over microchips. You know, the Chinese government

announced over the weekend restrictions on micron, you know, the biggest US-based manufacturer.

But that wasn't just some

sort of unilateral active aggression. In fact, that was in response to a move last October by the

U.S. government imposing similar restrictions on Chinese chip manufacturing corporations.

Tell us what's behind this conflict. And why are microchips? Why is this product so crucial to the

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