The secure transport of light; Breakneck; industrial research at the Hoover History Lab
Ann Arbor/Palo Alto
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My annual letter:
danwang.co/2025-letter/
This year I discuss corgis, compute, and Cold War; the Texas State Fair; DSA; Neue Sachlichkeit; disfiguring the physical past and the end of history; Germanic obedience; Antichrist; wisecracks; Pascal’s Wager; romantasy; and croissants.
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The quirky Ma Qianzu explains why the Chinese internet is so frustrating to read: there’s little actual analysis, only a straightjacketed state media and a proliferation of dramatic narratives
And a metaphor from a great interview by @afrazhaowang
afraw.substack.com/p/first-d…
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For the better part of a decade, I've been writing that the US government's restrictions on Chinese tech companies were unstrategic, poorly explained, and based in caprice (foreignaffairs.com/united-st…). Now it looks like the administration is turning these controls on American firms
Think about the power Hegseth is asserting here. He is claiming that the DoD can force all contractors to stop doing business of any kind with arbitrary other companies.
In other words, every operating system vendor, every manufacturer of hardware, every hyperscaler, every type of firm the DoD contracts with—all their services and products can be denied to any economic actor at will by the Secretary of War.
This is obviously a psychotic power grab. It is almost surely illegal, but the message it sends is that the United States Government is a completely unreliable partner for any kind of business. The damage done to our business environment is profound. No amount of deregulatory vibes sent by this administration matters compared to this arson.
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Dan Wang retweeted
BYD and Tesla both make EVs in China. Yet BYD has significantly lower costs.
Two major factors:
1) Vertical integration is very high for BYD
2) Doing R&D in China is far cheaper
State subsidies are a small part. It’s more a structural advantage. Fascinating report from Rhodium.
We’re often asked: Why are Chinese EVs so cheap? Comparing costs between Western and Chinese automakers in China shows that subsidies matter, but they’re only part of the story:
rhg.com/research/why-are-chi…
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I loved this joint review of Jia Zhangke’s latest feature with Breakneck by @kirenitynow
metropolitanreview.org/p/chi…
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Dan Wang retweeted
.@danwwang's annual letter is a real treat as ever. I'm glad to have made a footnoted contribution, always important to stay on message.
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Dan Wang retweeted
There is no lovelier tradition to return to than reading Dan Wang’s annual letters over the holidays
The is one of his best. with too many gems to count
Dan most shines in his ability to stare hard at SV and China in the fullness of their beauty and horror. It's a thing I hope SV can learn to do more, because it may be the one durable moat possible from our system vs theirs
My annual letter:
danwang.co/2025-letter/
This year I discuss corgis, compute, and Cold War; the Texas State Fair; DSA; Neue Sachlichkeit; disfiguring the physical past and the end of history; Germanic obedience; Antichrist; wisecracks; Pascal’s Wager; romantasy; and croissants.
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Dan Wang retweeted
Enjoyed this snippet from Dan Wang's latest annual letter: before publishing, he retypes the whole thing start to finish.
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Dan Wang retweeted
I wrote a post about some things I've been thinking about and reading this year.
In 2026 I hope to write more about the Quiet Revival (which is really happening by the way).
fergusmccullough.com/p/2025-…
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Dan Wang retweeted
I wrote about my first year of being a full-time writer — how it’s transformed me & my thinking from the inside out
It really is the best job in the world!
jasmi.news/p/writing-2025
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Dan Wang retweeted
The holiday period is a good time to catch up on some reading. Here are a few books I enjoyed this year!
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What we choose to fight is so tiny
What fights with us is so great
When we win it's with small things
and the triumph itself makes us small
This is how we grow: by being defeated, decisively, by constantly greater beings
- Der Schauende, Rilke
(translated by Robert Bly)
Conversations with Tyler is like a tennis match and the perfect guest is somebody who can return @tylercowen's (fast) serve and in some cases go on for extended rallies. On this metric, @danwwang was the perfect CWT guest. Very fun to listen to this one!
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Dan Wang retweeted
My Conversation with the excellent Dan Wang, conversationswithtyler.com/e…, #China, #Breakneck, #Cowenconvos, @DanWWang
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Dan Wang retweeted
My review of @danwwang's Breakneck is now out in @AmericanAffrs!
Some highlights:
- why breakneck is abundance but with a mimetic edge
- what other reviews miss when treating Wang's thesis as "degree counting" or dismissing China's growth as natural economic growth
- why the people-first theory of change Breakneck provides is a deeper diagnosis than simply identifying regulatory fixes
- how we can recreate communities of engineering practice through 45X PTC & industrial opportunity zones
And more in the full review!
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