The next president should make infrastructure spending a priority

[Commentary] There is now a consensus that the United States should substantially raise its level of infrastructure investment. Economists and politicians of all persuasions are increasingly concluding that higher infrastructure investment can create quality jobs and provide economic stimulus without posing the risks of easy-money monetary policies in the short run. They are also recognizing that infrastructure investment can expand the economy’s capacity in the medium term and mitigate the enormous maintenance burden we would otherwise pass on to the next generation. The issue now is not whether the United States should invest more in infrastructure but what the policy framework should be. Here are the important questions and my answers.

Some infrastructure priorities, such as replacing coal-fired power plants with renewables, expanding broadband Internet networks and building pipelines, are clearly the responsibility of the private sector. Policy frameworks that streamline regulatory decision-making and reduce uncertainty could help spur investment in these sectors.

[Summers is a professor at and past president of Harvard University. He was treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 and an economic adviser to President Obama from 2009 through 2010.]