Microchip shortage: Why US is poised to take rare action
The computer chip shortage, which has disrupted supplies of everything from automobiles to wheelchair accessories, is pushing Congress to take big steps in helping America’s high-tech industry.
Congress has already passed legislation to encourage semiconductor firms to build chip fabrication facilities, or fabs, in the United States. It has not yet authorized the funding. Not for the first time, the nation is poised to dramatically pump up funding for scientific research and, more controversially, help high-tech companies to meet an international challenge.
“Rather than a sea change, we’re on another wave,” says John Alic, an author and visiting scholar at Arizona State University’s Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes.
The wave
Rising urgency in CongressOne bill, 10 sectors of innovationYou’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
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