President Barack Obama’s new infrastructure initiative has triggered a constructive economic debate — for a change. Instead of a fruitless argument over whether the administration’s stimulus package was too big or too small, now we can talk about what it will really take to reboot the U.S. economy.
Upgrading America’s worn-out, inadequate public infrastructure is the right place to start. The president’s call for a $50 billion “down payment” to jumpstart work on transportation upgrades, and for an Infrastructure Bank to fund projects of regional and national importance is a crucial first step.
But Washington needs an even more ambitious blueprint for reviving U.S. economic dynamism.
