Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure
Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure
Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure
Description
Description
A bold plan for the United States to regain the lead in infrastructure development through privatization and public-private partnerships
America's infrastructure-its essential roads, bridges, ports, airports, power grids, and telecommunications systems-were once the pride of the nation and an example for the world. But now, after years of neglect and oversight, this infrastructure is crumbling and causing catastrophic changes in the US quality of life. Build seeks to explain how American infrastructure collapsed and what can be done to repair it.
In a series of colorful, rarely told cases, Build takes readers on a revealing tour behind the scenes of the successes and debacles of key infrastructure projects to show what works, why the United States has failed in recent decades to invest in infrastructure, and how the private sector can help revitalize the sector, spur job growth, and contribute to climate resilience.
Sadek Wahba examines the private origins of US infrastructure and the federally funded megaprojects that came after the New Deal, investigating the role the private sector can and should play in building infrastructure. By drawing comparisons with systems in the United Kingdom, France, India, and China, Wahba shows that while privatization and public-private partnerships cannot solve all infrastructure challenges, they are essential for closing funding gaps, overcoming political paralysis, and driving major infrastructure advances.
Build will appeal to readers interested in public finance, domestic policy, the role of the federal government, tax policy, and urban affairs.
About the Author
About the Author
Sadek Wahba is the founder, chairman, and managing partner of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment company. He is a senior fellow at New York University's Development Research Institute and a foundation fellow at St. Antony's College of the University of Oxford. A former World Bank economist, he serves on the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
In a wide-ranging look at infrastructure that takes us 'deep into the inner workings of city halls and statehouses across the country, as well as into the decision-making processes of many economies around the world, ' chock-full of insightful historical perspective and current cases, Wahba shows us that the way we fund infrastructure here in America isn't the only way, or maybe even the best way to do it.... Public institutions are important. Protecting democratic norms is paramount. So is remaining adaptable, dynamic, and open to change.... Wahba's book should prompt an honest and important debate, offer ideas for private-public partnerships, and help policy makers and businesses alike think about the best way to tackle the current backlog of projects that desperately need doing.
Sadek Wahba's Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure is an important work that highlights the US' lagging infrastructure investment and proposes bold policy action to rectify it. While there is renewed attention to improving US infrastructure as demonstrated by the US government's recent initiatives, Dr. Wahba's book lays out how greater private sector involvement can be a sustainable path forward to improving the lives of millions of Americans, growing the US economy, and helping to ensure victory in strategic competition.
Build ... is a comprehensive, well documented con tribution to the literature on P3s and privatization, and infrastructure policy more broadly.
Sadek Wahba's Build: Investing in America's Infrastructure is an important work that highlights the US' lagging infrastructure investment and proposes bold policy action to rectify it. While there is renewed attention to improving US infrastructure as demonstrated by the US government's recent initiatives, Dr. Wahba's book lays out how greater private sector involvement can be a sustainable path forward to improving the lives of millions of Americans, growing the US economy, and helping to ensure victory in strategic competition.
-- "Wilson Center"Build ... is a comprehensive, well documented con tribution to the literature on P3s and privatization, and infrastructure policy more broadly.
-- "Financing"In a wide-ranging look at infrastructure that takes us 'deep into the inner workings of city halls and statehouses across the country, as well as into the decision-making processes of many economies around the world, ' chock-full of insightful historical perspective and current cases, Wahba shows us that the way we fund infrastructure here in America isn't the only way, or maybe even the best way to do it.... Public institutions are important. Protecting democratic norms is paramount. So is remaining adaptable, dynamic, and open to change.... Wahba's book should prompt an honest and important debate, offer ideas for private-public partnerships, and help policy makers and businesses alike think about the best way to tackle the current backlog of projects that desperately need doing.
-- "Porchlight"
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
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