How to Fix America’s Crumbling Infrastructure: Lessons from Australia

In recent years, widespread reports have indicated America’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair. Although the need for repairs is generally accepted, analysts differ on how much work needs to be done and what aspects of America’s infrastructure are in the worst shape.

In its 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure an overall grade of D+, and it estimated rectifying this important problem would cost $4.59 trillion over 10 years.

Regardless of whether U.S. infrastructure is truly “crumbling,” policymakers and analysts generally agree that much work and many reforms are needed to repair, improve, and enhance the nation’s infrastructure. But how, exactly, should these goals be achieved?

In a new Heartland Institute Policy Brief, “How to Fix America’s Crumbling Infrastructure: Lessons from Australia,” Darren Brady Nelson looks at the nation’s infrastructure needs and what our options are. Nelson points to the Australian model for infrastructure repairs as an example the United States should follow.

Get a PDF copy of the paper at this link.

Nelson argues in this Heartland Policy Brief:

• There may be disagreements on the amount needed and the degree of urgency, but America is in serious need of infrastructure repairs.
• Most plans to repair America’s infrastructure are a hodgepodge of big government programs that will be inefficient and ineffective.
• Policymakers should look at how Australia decentralized its infrastructure management and create a similar system in the United States.
• Privatization is the most economically sound system for improving America’s infrastructure without huge costs to taxpayers.

This new Heartland Policy Brief shows that decentralization and privatization are the most effective solution for repairing America’s infrastructure. The enormous costs of government-centric plans must be avoided.