With interest rates close to zero, or in some cases negative in real terms, and the bazooka of QE already widely deployed, policymakers are running out of monetary levers to pull. This leaves us with the potential of fiscal stimulus, one aspect of which is infrastructure spending which can boost growth using both short-term demand effects, and longer-term supply effects, with the so-called multiplier effect implying that, if done correctly, the resulting GDP boost is larger than the initial investment.
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Funding’ Category
Infrastructure for Growth: the Dawn of a New Multi-Trillion Dollar Asset Class
Monday, October 24th, 2016Aging Dams and Clogged Rivers: An Infrastructure Plan for America’s Waterways
Friday, October 21st, 2016Functional or not, the dams that dot the country cannot simply be ignored or forgotten. Indeed, these dams pose a significant safety problem: ASCE classifies nearly 4,000 dams as “deficient.” Furthermore, these structures continue to block an estimated 600,000 miles of rivers in the United States. A new analysis by the Center for American Progress for this report demonstrates that dams and reservoirs have modified the flow of 71 percent of Western rivers by length and that Western rivers are 66 percent more fragmented than they would be in their natural state.
View this complete post...A Roadmap for Financing Sustainable Infrastructure
Thursday, October 13th, 2016Investing in sustainable infrastructure is key to tackling the three central challenges facing the global community: reigniting growth, delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, and reducing climate risk in line with the Paris Agreement…The Global Commission has identified a number of priority actions to rapidly shift investments toward sustainable infrastructure. A number of their previous recommendations are also relevant to this agenda.
View this complete post...ACEC’S ENGINEERING INC. — Capture Planning Paves the Way to Winning
Wednesday, October 12th, 2016Capture planning, which may go by different names at different engineering firms, initially gained popularity in the public sector in the 1990s. Over the past 20 years, it has emerged as a best practice for both public and private sector business development. Essentially, it’s the process of proactively identifying or creating client and project opportunities, assessing the business environment and implementing strategies to win or “capture” business opportunities. Capture planning takes on various guises, but it’s all about leading to success.
View this complete post...The Cost of the World’s Biggest Infrastructure Projects
Tuesday, October 11th, 2016Railways, highways, bridges, dams, skyscrapers. When it comes to building infrastructure, China can do it fast. But at what cost?
View this complete post...2017 Strategic 100: North American Infrastructure Report
Monday, October 3rd, 2016After years of underinvestment, infrastructure is having a moment in the policy discussion. Across North America, policy-makers are moving toward using public sector infrastructure investment as a strategy for promoting economic growth, while private infrastructure developers are seeking projects that yield healthy investment returns – returns that are harder to find over the long-term while low growth rates remain the dominant macro-narrative. This focus on infrastructure investment’s potential benefits is laudable, reflecting the advice of top economists and the emerging limits of other policy tools. Such investment, if well-targeted and well-executed, can be a path to achieve near-term economic policy objectives while dramatically improving the foundation for long-term economic prosperity.
View this complete post...State and Federal Fuel Taxes: The Road Ahead for U.S. Infrastructure Funding
Thursday, September 29th, 2016Indexing fuel taxes to inflation in addition to imposing a states’ sales tax increases revenue significantly but suffers from a continuous decline in the long-run due to increased fuel efficiency. Our results indicate that although a mileage fee is politically and technologically difficult to achieve, it avoids a declining tax revenue in the long-run.
View this complete post...ACEC’S ENGINEERING INC. — Presidential Review: Which Candidate is Best for Business?
Monday, September 26th, 2016AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES (ACEC) By Alan Joch At a time of prolonged economic uncertainty, the stakes in this year’s election couldn’t be higher. Here’s a guide to help engineers weigh the industry impact of each candidate’s economic proposals As we near the 2016 presidential election, many executives remain concerned about the future strength […]
View this complete post...Livable Transit Corridors: Methods, Metrics, and Strategies
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016While livability has received increasing attention in planning and policy circles recently, agreement as to how to define, measure, and create it has been elusive. This is especially true in terms of the livability benefits of transit investments. While livability definitions tend to boil livability down to serving diverse people with diverse opportunities (RITA Office of Research, Development, and Technology 2011), most have not been specific enough to measure it consistently and implement it effectively. Furthermore, getting specific about livability—particularly when focusing on the livability benefits of transit-supportive investments—may cause those who do not care for transit to dismiss it.
View this complete post...A Fork in the Road? The Outlook for Transportation Infrastructure in the City and County of Milwaukee
Friday, September 16th, 2016While citizens have varying views and expectations regarding the role and responsibilities of local governments, most would agree that providing, maintaining, and updating public infrastructure is a fundamental governmental responsibility. On the local level, that responsibility extends from streets and buses, to sewer and water systems, to fire and police equipment, to parks and cultural facilities, to public buildings that citizens use to access government services.
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