President Trump has announced the outlines of an ambitious $1 trillion agenda to rebuild America’s crumbling roads and bridges, outdated water systems and dilapidated public buildings. While the general goal of investing in infrastructure has broad bipartisan support, Mr. Trump’s call for relying heavily on private financing has come under fierce criticism. As consultants and advocates for such public-private partnerships, we believe those attacks are wrongheaded.
Critics assert that public-private partnerships enrich investors at taxpayers’ expense, are more expensive and less accountable, lead to public bailouts and do little to help rural areas.
