Get the latest insights, events and more:Welcome to the January issue of Voices on Infrastructure, a collection of insights on restarting economies with infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure investment is an important tool to support growth, create jobs, propel economic recovery, and position our economies for sustainable growth. More than ever, many countries are faced with the need to invest in updated infrastructure to support growing populations, address inequities in the distribution of infrastructure services, and decarbonize their industries.
COVID-19’s impact on the global economy has exacerbated the need for governments to identify investment programs that will stimulate economic recovery and create sustainable jobs. The pandemic has also highlighted the weaknesses in our core social and physical infrastructure that have hampered our response to COVID-19—and that will make recovery that much more difficult.
However, the immense fiscal challenge of COVID-19 recovery has created competition among a long list of worthy spending options. To plug near-term operating budget gaps, government willingness to borrow is at an all-time high, but what is the case that prioritizing infrastructure investment will deliver the necessary economic support for near- and long-term recovery? History has shown it possible, but governments will need to prioritize projects, deploy stimulus funding in an impactful way, and take advantage of alternative funding sources—including the trillions of dollars in private capital waiting on the sidelines.
In this issue, we debate the role of infrastructure investment in economic recovery, including how to select the right projects, create jobs, and build sustainable infrastructure for the future. We also explore the long-term effects of stimulus spending on infrastructure. We hope that this issue of Voices and GII’s supporting events on this topic will allow us collectively to convert the hardship of COVID-19 into an opportunity for renewal by building the infrastructure of the future to catalyze sustainable economic recovery.
Aaron Bielenberg
Partner
McKinsey & Company
Rob Palter
Senior Partner
McKinsey & Company
