Constructing an Infrastructure Failure

Scott LincicomePoliticoreports today that high construction materials costs are imperiling not only the President ’s signature infrastructure bill, but also his party’s (already‐​dim) electoral prospects this fall:With the midterm elections barely six months away, President Joe Biden took an opportunity Tuesday totout one of his signature (yet often overlooked) achievements— the $1.2 trillion that’s set to flow into the economy for new infrastructure projects over the coming decade.But those historic investments, from eliminating lead pipes and expanding rural broadband access to upgrading airports and passenger rail, are running into a  historic problem.Construction costs, along with inflation, are rising at the fastest pace in decades, driven by higher commodity prices and supply chain disruptions. That threatens to undercut some of the benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a  centerpiece of the Biden administration’s economic agenda, analysts at S&P Global said in a  new report.…“As construction input inflation increases or remains elevated, the purchasing power of federal investment – as well as other funding sources – is eroded,” they wrote.In short, the funding may not provide as much bang for the buck as lawmakers thought last year, when they passed the law.Given this threat, you ’dthink that the President and his team would be laser ‐​focused on finding quick ways to lower domestic construction materials costs. Yet, when i...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs