Biden’s Soft Infrastructure Agenda May Not Boost Growth
October 18, 2021 | District of Columbia
As the Democrats who control Washington reshape a multi-trillion-dollar package that would expand the social safety net and boost green energy, a key question hanging over their efforts is what impact it will have on the economy.
A $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal passed by the Senate earlier this year and a reconciliation bill Democrats are trying to whittle down from its original $3.5 trillion price tag constitute what President Biden has described as “once-in-a-generation investment” in the economy.
Investment generally refers to spending that yields a stream of benefits years into the future, making the economy larger and more productive. A recent White House memo favorably cites a letter from 17 Nobel Prize-winning economists suggesting that both bills qualify as infrastructure “by making critical investments in human capital, the care economy, research and development, public education, and more…[T]his agenda invests in long-term economic capacity and will enhance the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy.”… (Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal)
