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Abstract: 

The alarm about infrastructure spending has been sounded for more than two decades with little political movement or adequate private funding to rectify the situation. Our country has not come to a grinding halt, so the question remains: Do we have an infrastructure crisis? Have we ever had a crisis? If so, why have we not seen public-private partnerships and other creative fi nuancing structures take off? Why has there not been more investment from state legislatures? Will we reach a breaking point? The panelists discuss how to quantify the U.S. infrastructure requirements, which sectors are better or worse positioned, and next steps. This article is based on a discussion by the same title conducted at the 36th Annual Conference of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts held in Charleston, South Carolina, May 7–10, 2019. Brent Miller, CFA, is fixed income assistant portfolio manager at Mairs & Power, Inc. Brian Pallasch is managing director of government relations and infrastructure initiatives at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Debra Knopman is a principal researcher at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. The conference proceedings are being published in a special double issue of Municipal Finance Journal, as Volume 40, Number 4 and Volume 41, Number 1.

Keywords: Infrastructure crisis, infrastructure spending, climate change and infrastructure, infrastructure and state legislatures, infrastructure financing

Affiliations:  1: Mairs & Power, Inc.; 2: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); 3: RAND Corporation.