Financing Public Investment
June 10, 2008 - New America Foundation board member Bernard Schwartz testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on new methods of financing infrastructure investments. He said,
Over the past several decades, we have accumulated a sizeable public infrastructure deficit. As a result, a variety of infrastructure bottlenecks—traffic congested roads, clogged ports, and an antiquated air traffic system, to mention just a few—have begun to undercut our economy’s efficiency and undermine our quality of life...
The way we currently fund infrastructure in this country is flawed. At the federal level, infrastructure is funded largely out of general revenues and the highway trust funds. Thus, it is not surprising that in recent years political concerns over the budget deficit together with competing short-term spending needs have crowded out public infrastructure projects.
To read the entire testimony, click here.
About Us
The United States could help drive a new era of rising global prosperity and rapid economic growth -- fueled by new technologies and production processes -- that in turn could help alleviate many of the most daunting problems we face domestically and internationally. Yet inadequate investments in public infrastructure, the skills of our workforce, and research and development, combined with an unsustainable level of consumer debt, undermine our ability to promote sustainable economic growth. The purpose of the Economic Growth Program is to develop an integrated strategy and a set of specific policy proposals to overcome these problems and promote widespread growth and prosperity.
Please use the tabs below to find recent content related to the Economic Growth program, or see the link at right for a more-detailed program description.
The Economic Growth Program appreciates the generous support of Bernard L. Schwartz.
Articles
| Article | Date |
|---|---|
| Covered Bonds Can Rebuild America | July 28, 2008 |
| When 2008 Feels Like 1968 | July 17, 2008 |
| Don't Pick On Sovereign Wealth | July 17, 2008 |
| Democratizing Capital | March 20, 2008 |
| Watching Sovereign Wealth | February 28, 2008 |
| Undebated Challenges | November 19, 2007 |
| Mission Accomplished | November 15, 2007 |
| Sustaining an Infrastructure for Success | October 17, 2007 |
| Inside Track: The Financialization of Foreign Policy | October 17, 2007 |
| Public Investment Works | September 30, 2007 |
Policy Papers
Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| How the War is Driving Oil Costs Up and American Families Down | August 21, 2008 |
| When Band-Aids No Longer Work | August 14, 2008 |
| America's Health Care Debacle | July 30, 2008 |
| The Rising Tide of Economic Anxiety | June 27, 2008 |
| High Oil Prices, Plummeting Home Values and the State of Middle Class America | June 25, 2008 |
| NY Event: It's the Economic Recovery Plan, Stupid | May 22, 2008 |
| Illusions and Delusions About the U.S. Economic Picture | April 2, 2008 |
| As the Economy Screams | January 23, 2008 |
| Whither the American Economy? | November 30, 2007 |
| Ten Big Ideas for a New America | January 31, 2007 |
Press
Bernard L. Schwartz
Bernard L. Schwartz's generous support underwrites New America's Economic Growth Program.
One of the nation's leading philanthropists in the realms of medical research, higher education, foreign affairs, and public policy, Mr. Schwartz is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Loral Space & Communications, Ltd., one of the world’s largest satellite manufacturing and satellite services companies. In recent years, he has established endowed programs at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, at the Graduate Faculty at the New School University, and at the Council on Foreign Relations.
For more information on Mr. Schwartz, please click here.
Staff
- Sherle Schwenninger - Program Director
- Douglas Rediker - Co-Director Global Strategic Finance Initiative
- Heidi Crebo-Rediker - Co-Director Global Strategic Finance Initiative
- Michael Lind - Whitehead Senior Fellow
- Barry Lynn - Senior Fellow
- Joel Kotkin - Senior Fellow
- Samuel Sherraden - Research Associate
Economic Growth Conference
November 30, 2007 - Responding to the damage caused by the slowdown in housing, the subprime mortgage crisis, and fears of a U.S. recession, the New America Foundation held a national policy forum on the need for a new era of public investment on Friday, November 30, 2007.
Despite the recent economic slowdown, New America Foundation board member Bernard Schwartz opened the conference with an optimistic message. The dynamism of the American economy, Schwartz argues, bolstered by robust public investment, can overcome present challenges. Mr. Schwartz and and Economic Growth Program director Sherle Schwenninger outline a strategy for rebuilding the American economic engine in “Public Investment Works,” which appears in the fall issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.
For details on this event, click here.
