On November 5th congress passed an infrastructure bill totaling up to one trillion dollars. This bill will be used to update America’s aging infrastructure. Much of the United States’ infrastructure has not been touched since its origin over 100 years ago. America is constantly growing and changing so it is important that our buildings, bridges, roads, etc. do too. The allocations of the bill are as follows:
$2.5 Billion - Inland Waterways
$40 Billion - Fixing Bridges
$70 Billion - Passenger Rail
$65 Billion - Ensuring Americans have access to high-speed internet
The list does not stop there, and much will also be allocated to highways, airports, electricity grids, water pipes, etc.
This bill is Joe Bidens and the Democratic Party’s first major legislative success since the shorter stimulus package passed earlier this year. This bill constitutes half of Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda.
Although America’s infrastructure is said to take $2.6 trillion dollars to build it up to a satisfactory level which this bill will not cover fully. This bill will be a great start in the right direction for a real difference. From 2022 to 2026 federal infrastructure spending as a percent of GDP will rise from 0.8% to about 1.3%. The impact that this may have on the United States is great. For every $100 billion dollars more spent on infrastructure, it may immediately boost growth by a tenth of a percentage point. This bill will also provide an opportunity for private investors to join the government’s efforts, which could both enlarge total spending and impose more financial discipline.
This is a step in the right direction for America’s infrastructure, but this will still be a challenging obstacle to overcome. Especially being that American’s are reluctant when it comes to being taxed compared to other rich countries, and the infrastructure is a direct result of taxes.
2 comments:
I think the challenge is worth it. This infrastructure bill will be crucial going forwards and can establish a new and improved nation. I love the $65 billion allocation to high-speed internet availability. When you talk about everything turning digital, you need everyone to be able to access that.
Oh boy, look money to spend on infrastructure! But no seriously this is very good as much of the highways and roads built years ago are beginning to wear down and have been under construction for years due to lack of funding, so hopefully, this helps with that. Surprisingly though, there is nothing on fixing the god-awful train system and developing a high-speed bullet train network, which I think is much needed in American Public Transportation. Also very good to see money being put into American Internet as we are falling behind with the likes of Japan, SOuth Korea, and Taiwan.
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