During the 2016 presidential election campaign, one thing that both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump agreed on was that the United States needed to renew its infrastructure. The former has proposed a $275 billion initiative to achieve just that; the latter has staked much of his claim to competence on his ability to build things. Clearly, the new President will have to do something starting in January 2017 given promises that have been made to date.
The importance of infrastructure for economic growth need not be belabored; it is part of the capital stock that enables and increases U.S. productivity. Nor has the severity of its decay gone unnoticed; the issue has been discussed extensively in the media. But the issue also bears important political implications. Building infrastructure creates large numbers of jobs for working Americans, and renewed efforts can bolster the sagging fortunes of the working class, whose anger has propelled populist politicians like Donald Trump. It is one of the few ways that the Federal government can spend money to reduce income inequality in the United States.
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