Infrastructure Finance: A Mercatus Colloquium
Eileen Norcross
Editor
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University presents a discussion of transportation infrastructure policy in the United States and the role that financing, funding, and technology play in determining how American infrastructure is maintained and built. Several proposals have emerged from Congress and the Trump administration to address America’s infrastructure needs, including the establishment of an infrastructure bank, tax credits for companies that finance infrastructure projects, direct federal spending, and reducing regulatory red tape related to transportation costs.
Invited scholars have contributed essays that address the following question as it applies to their individual research focus: Will any of these proposed measures alone, or in combination, be effective? And if not, what alternative measures might be offered to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the US transportation system?
In their essays the authors discuss the likely effects of current proposals and suggest alternatives. Their alternative proposals include congestion pricing, financing models that give more discretion to state and local governments, the use of information technology, and minimizing the role politics plays in determining project priorities.
-
President Trump and Congress seem poised to boost spending on highways, bridges, and mass transit.
May 16, 2017 -
The Trump administration and Congress are now discussing several proposals to rebuild America’s infrastructure.
Tracy C. MillerMay 16, 2017 -
Policy discussions about infrastructure, which includes roads, bridges, airports, and railways, often presume that major infrastructure must be government funded and government owned.
Jerry ElligMay 16, 2017 -
President Trump and Senate Democrats have been touting the idea of increased infrastructure spending on airports, highways, mass transit, and energy generation.
Ted BolemaMay 16, 2017 -
Today’s transportation policy debate in the United States centers almost entirely on the notion of coming up with more money.
Charles MarohnMay 16, 2017
Does a National Public Infrastructure Bank Make Sense?
Robert Krol