Post-Pandemic, Here’s How America Rises Again

Hopefully, when Congress gets done allocating several trillion dollars simply to keep the economy afloat, we will be able to have another discussion: What should we invest in so we don’t just burden young Americans with a mountain of new debt, but also arm them with the tools to grow out of it and still prosper in the 21st century? These could be the most important and precious dollars we spend, so we need to invest them wisely, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the 1930s by creating the Works Progress Administration and the Rural Electrification Act — giant infrastructure programs that not only helped lift us out of the Depression but also made us more productive to this day. Here are less obvious investments that I’m certain would make America more resilient, more prosperous, healthier and more equal:

• Expanded high-speed internet connectivity everywhere, but particularly in rural America, so more people can participate in the innovation economy.
• Deployment across America of more affordable tools of invention, design and manufacturing — so more people can build more hardware at the points of need and help innovate our way out of this crisis — not just wait to be bailed out or for the next shipment from China.

Let’s create tax, regulatory and funding incentives for every community — but particularly the many underserved rural communities — to install high-speed broadband and fiber to the home. High-speed internet basically enables anyone anywhere to get training for a better job, often at low to no cost, from online universities or YouTube instructional videos. And if you connect them, they will invent.