# Did the Military Build Silicon Valley? **URL:** **By** Peter Van Doren, Christophe Lécuyer, Paul Matzko **Published:** March 19, 2020 --- The government has long played a role in advancing (and delaying) technological innovation. Stop me if you've ever heard some version of the following argument: government mandates and funding gave us the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \[insert: space shuttle, internet, Silicon Valley\], so the government should spend $ \_\_ billions/trillions on stimulating innovation and shaping industrial policy today. But that argument is built upon a simplistic and sometimes flawed understanding of what actually happened in the past. The true story is much more complex. In this episode, Paul talks with historian Christophe Lecuyer about the military's role in the creation of Silicon Valley. And he then sits down with Cato's Peter Van Doren to discuss the track record for government industrial policy in the decades since. What is silicon logic, user logic and competitive logic? Does the military use new technologies first? What are the advantages of Pentagon contracts compared to private contracts? What is the difference between research and development contracts and manufacturing contracts? ## Further Reading: [Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/making-silicon-valley), written by Christophe Lécuyer [The Technology Pork Barrel](https://www.brookings.edu/book/the-technology-pork-barrel/), written by Linda R. Cohen and Roger G. Noll; With Jeffrey S. Banks, Susan A. Edelman, and William M. Pegram ## Related Content: [Universities Built Silicon Valley (with Margaret O’Mara)](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/universities-built-silicon-valley-with-margaret-omara), Building Tomorrow Podcast [Military-Industrial Complex](https://www.libertarianism.org/encyclopedia/military-industrial-complex), written by Christopher A. Preble [Regulations Gone Wrong](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/regulations-gone-wrong), Free Thoughts Podcast [How the Powerful Captured the Economy](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/how-the-powerful-captured-the-economy), Free Thoughts Podcast