Public Infrastructure

But according to Michael Lind, that's exactly what Obama should do: rather than fund infrastructure projects out of general funds, it should issue ...

Barack Obama is a man with a plan. On Dec. 6, the president-elect announced major parts of his plan to revitalize the American economy. He listed four priorities: "a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient"; "the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s"; "the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school

Speaking of that infrastructure push, Steve Coll of The New Yorker marvels at how quickly the idea of spending big bucks on infrastructure “has migrated ...

Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New America Foundation, and a member of President-Elect Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board, addressed a packed auditorium at the Ronald Reagan Building on Tuesday, November 18th.

Schmidt provided insight into the junction of technology and government, stressing that solid infrastructure is the key to an efficient and… more

Infrastructure and Economic Opportunity

On September 12, the New America Foundation launched a new report, “The Heartland Development Bank,” by Delore Zimmerman, President of Praxis Strategy Group, and New America Foundation senior fellow Joel Kotkin. The proposed Development Bank is designed to address the United States’ growing population over the next fifty years by encouraging investment in infrastructure, energy, and innovative industries in the area commonly referred to as America’s Heartland. Joined by Mayor Dennis Donohue of Salinas, California and Sherle Schwenninger, Director… more

Washington, DC--America's economy is in serious trouble, and it will take more than the standard countercyclical measures to fix it. The nation today is mired in a post-bubble economy, and needs a bold and optimistic economic recovery plan that goes beyond conventional thinking. This new proposal from the New America Foundation offers exactly that. In "An Economic Recovery Program for the Post-Bubble Economy" -- the first proposal in New America's new Big Ideas series -- Bernard L. Schwartz and Sherle R. Schwenninger warn of… more

Monday's embrace of covered bonds by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and senior representatives of the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the country's largest banks to help thaw the U.S. mortgage market is a laudable step, appealing to market proponents and skeptics alike. Introducing covered bonds to the U.S. is a great idea. In fact, covered bonds can help more than just the mortgage market. At its most basic, a covered bond is a bond issued by a bank and backed by… more

There is a groundswell of support across the United States for a thorough upgrade to America's infrastructure. Today, at 3 p.m CST, New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (D-CA), and Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) are calling on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to join a coalition of political leaders calling for a infrastructure overhaul. Sherle Schwenninger, director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation, can provide context to… more