The writer is former CEO of Loral Space & Communications, and currently CEO of BLS Investments. David Rothkopf, CEO of TRG Media, also contributed to this article
For almost half a century, no American president was able to muster the political will to invest significantly in US infrastructure. The roads, highways, ports, water and power systems of the world’s richest nation have suffered continued neglect. Our competitiveness was diminished. But with Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) signed into law in November, the US is now committed to making a historic $1.2tn commitment to economic growth. This dwarfs even the sums spent by Franklin D Roosevelt at the height of the New Deal.
Getting the bill passed was a struggle, but the consequences in terms of job creation and economic growth will be enormous. However, if the US is to remain the world’s leading economy in the century ahead, American federal and state leaders must go further. This should be a transformational moment in which the US proves it is rising to the challenges of a global economy marked by the ascent of China, the advent of new technologies and the urgency of climate challenges. That requires more than one piece of legislation.