Rebuilding America's Infrastructure
Introduction
American infrastructure is in dire need of repair and replacement. Yet decades of experience have shown us that simply showering federal money on infrastructure is not the right solution. Indeed, this approach has been shown to encourage wasteful spending on projects that are politically expedient but economically dubious. Large injections of federal funds may encourage spending money on large, new projects while ignoring critical maintenance backlogs on existing infrastructure. Or it may incentivize state policymakers to devote attention to particular communities whose political importance far outweighs their need for new infrastructure.
But despite these pitfalls, the federal government does have a role to play in revitalizing our country’s highways, airports, rail networks, pipelines, electrical grids, and water infrastructure. Over the following pages, Manhattan Institute scholars from a variety of different areas of expertise will sketch what, precisely, that role is.
Infrastructure
Private Infrastructure Provision — The Easy, The Hard, The Impossible
Edward L. Glaeser | MI Issue Brief | January 12, 2017
If You Build It... Myths and Realities About America’s Infrastructure Spending
Edward L. Glaeser | City Journal | Spring 2016 Issue
8 Ways President Trump Can Rebuild America — At Half the Cost
Nicole Gelinas | New York Post | January 23, 2017
Trump Needs to Think Big and Build Right to Reform Our Infrastructure
Nicole Gelinas | New York Post | November 14, 2016
For Infrastructure, Spend Sensibly to Make a Difference, and Avoid Mistakes
Nicole Gelinas | The New York Times | December 20, 2016
Rebuilding American Infrastructure
Aaron M. Renn | American Affairs | Summer 2017 Issue
Transportation
Driverless Cars and the Future of American Infrastructure
Aaron M. Renn | MI Report | January 31, 2017
Making New York’s Airports Great Again
John Tierney | City Journal | Winter 2017 Issue
Reinventing the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
Robert W. Poole | MI Report | January 26, 2017
The Lessons of Long-Term Privatizations: Why Chicago Got It Wrong and Indiana Got It Right
Aaron M. Renn | MI Report | July 7, 2016
Water + Energy
Wasted: How to Fix America’s Sewers
Aaron M. Renn | MI Report | February 25, 2016
Exposed: How America's Electric Grids Are Becoming Greener, Smarter — and More Vulnerable
Mark P. Mills | MI Report | June 30, 2016
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