Between fall 2021 and summer 2022, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed three major pieces of economic legislation into law: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. These three laws make up what the Biden administration has dubbed its “Investing in America” agenda, representing bold investments in previously neglected aspects of the American economy—including building U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the transition to clean energy, and improving wages, training, and equity for workers—to spur economic growth, grow the middle class, and improve living standards.
This investment agenda is the United States’ most ambitious industrial strategy effort since the creation of the interstate highway system following World War II. With engagement and direction from local communities and stakeholders, the projects funded by the laws demonstrate the potential and power of public investments to incentivize and unleash private sector investment across manufacturing, clean energy, infrastructure, and more. They also provide financial resources for those who want to address particular economic needs within their communities, helping to make them more equitable.
Some Americans have lost faith that the government can deliver the results that they need. But the projects that are starting to take shape across the country show promise in how they can address long-standing economic challenges and set communities up for the future.
The above excerpt was originally published in the Center for American Progress.
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