Rarely does a major spending bill in Washington draw bipartisan support and yield immediate results. Behold the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden Aug. 9. The act provides more than $52 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the U.S.
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law on Aug. 16. The law is a major accomplishment for Democrats, who have been struggling for months to pass Biden’s ambitious social and climate policies, as well as his vision to raise taxes on the rich.
On June 6, 51-year-old welder Quoc Le died at a railcar assembly plant in Hamilton, ON, Canada, after a 1-ton bulkhead fell on him. Shockingly, it was the third fatal accident at the factory, which is owned by National Steel Car, in the past 21 months.
Innovation is a principal driver of U.S. economic growth. In 2022, the U.S. will spend nearly $600 billion on research and development, more than any other country in the world and more than 25 percent of the world's total.
Finally, we have good news on COVID. Two-thirds of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. As of March 16, the seven-day average for new cases was the lowest since July 13, 2021, and the seven-day average for fatalities was the lowest since Nov. 30, 2021. Some 93 percent of the country is not at high risk for COVID.
In January, Intel announced that it will invest $20 billion in a new microchip manufacturing facility near Columbus, OH. The fab is expected to create 3,000 company jobs, 7,000 construction jobs, and tens of thousands of additional jobs for suppliers and partners.
My wife works for one of the largest printers in the country. From August through October last year, nine of her co-workers died of COVID-19. All were shop-floor personnel who did not have the luxury of working from home. One was just 28 years old. None were vaccinated, despite ample monetary incentives to do so. Alarmed, the CEO held a companywide meeting via Zoom, begging employees to get vaccinated.