Encouraging US Infrastructure Investment

This paper addresses a potential infrastructure debacle in the US and how to avoid it. Despite the pressing infrastructure investment needs, federal infrastructure policy is paralyzed by partisan wrangling over massive infrastructure legislation that fails to move through Congress. The author makes several recommendations to encourage infrastructure investment in the US. First, Congress should give states flexibility to pursue alternative financing sources—public-private partnerships (PPPs), tolling and user fees, and low-cost borrowing through innovative credit and bond programs. Second, Congress and President Barack Obama should improve federal financing programs and streamline regulatory approvals to move billions of dollars for planned investments into construction.

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