Friday, March 6, 2009

Infrastructure Investing: Full Steam Ahead?

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Equity Beat:

The Obama administration’s stimulus package includes significant proposed spending on infrastructure, which has infrastructure investors intrigued. But they know that this package alone isn’t going to open the floodgates to private infrastructure investing in the U.S. Joe Seliga, partner with law firm Mayer Brown LLP, walks us through what’s going on in the industry.

What do you think of the planned infrastructure spending in the stimulus package?

The infrastructure stimulus debate has helped focus attention on the tremendous infrastructure needs of the U.S. and the challenges related to funding those needs. The stimulus funds only a fraction of the costs needed to address American infrastructure development and rehabilitation. For example, $29 billion is provided for road and bridge projects, while estimates indicate more than $100 billion is needed annually. The stimulus will not solve America’s infrastructure challenges, but will focus Americans on the need to solve those challenges....MORE