This is exactly the kind of thing the federal government should be doing

For those of a Libertarian bent who invariably opt against federal spending, the following article from the South Florida Sentinal outlines exactly what the federal government can, should, and has the unique ability to fund without concern about profitability.

Thousands of such experimental projects could be pursued if not for private sector concerns about future payout. The federal government needs no such concerns.

Progress is made via failure, which the federal government can tolerate, but the private sector cannot. 

No federal spending is wasteful because even the most far-fetched, failed projects still add growth dollars and jobs to the economy.

A bigger sibling for 3D printer

University demonstrates how recyclable affordable housing can be built quickly, cheaply

By David Sharp and Jennifer McDermott Associated Press

ORONO, Maine — The world’s largest 3D printer has created a house that can cut construction time and labor. An even larger printer unveiled this week may one day create entire neighborhoods.

The machine revealed Tuesday at the University of Maine is four times larger than the first one — commissioned less than five years ago — and capable of printing ever mightier objects. 

That includes scaling up its 3D-printed home technology using bio-based materials to eventually demonstrate how printed neighborhoods can offer an avenue to affordable housing to address homelessness in the region.

Thermoplastic polymers are extruded from a printer dubbed the “Factory of the Future 1.0,” said Habib Dagher, director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures & Composite Center, home to both large printers. 

It combines robotics operations with new sensors, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

And there could be even larger printers after the University of Maine breaks ground this summer on a new building.

“We’re learning from this to design the next one,” he said.

Those attending the unveiling included representatives from the Departments of Defense, Energy, and HUD, as well as other stakeholders who plan to utilize the new technologies made available by the printer.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the printer exceeded her expectations and “stands as a beacon of innovation.”

Shrouded by a black curtain, the printer was on and whirring behind the speakers. At the end, the curtain opened, revealing that it was working on a test project for a boat.

The unit can print objects 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high; its frame fills up the large building in which it’s housed.

It has a voracious appetite, consuming as much as 500 pounds of material an hour.

The original printer, christened in 2019, was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest polymer 3D printer, the university said.

It was used to create a 600-square-foot, single-family house made of wood fiber and bio-resin materials that are recyclable. Dubbed BioHome3D, it showed an ability to quickly produce houses. 

To meet the growing demand for housing, Maine will need 80,000 more residences over the next six years, according to Maine Housing.

Dagher said there’s a shortage of affordable housing and workers to build homes. The university wants to show how homes can be constructed nearly entirely by a printer with a lower carbon footprint. 

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the buildings and construction sector accounts for 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely due to the production and use of cement, steel, aluminum, and other materials with a significant carbon footprint.

Such printed buildings can be recycled. “You can basically deconstruct it, you can grind it up if you wish, the 3D-printed parts, and reprint with them, do it again,” Dagher said before the event.

The Army Corps of Engineers provided most of the funding for the new printer, which cost several million dollars, said Dannel Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System.

When politicians and others complain about expensive federal projects without obvious payouts, like going to the moon and Mars, they have no idea what their complaints cost America in terms of lost knowledge.

The federal government has unlimited money available (, and contrary to popular wisdom, federal debt is not a threat to, or burden on, anyone.

According to the mathematical formula (GDP = Federal + Nonfederal Spending + Net Exports), federal deficit spending is absolutely necessary for economic growth.

Even the infamous Gravina Island Bridge, commonly referred to as the “Bridge to Nowhere,” the ultimate in what is commonly called “pork barrel politics,” added dollars and jobs to the economy at no cost to any American taxpayer. (Federal taxes don’t fund federal spending.)

And of all federal spending, support for research and development may have the most short- and long-term value. We need much, much more of it.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY