President Biden just introduced his proposal for a $2 Trillion plan to rebuild and modernize American infrastructure and to create American jobs. If this proposal passes Congress in its proposed form, it will provide many investment opportunities along with being the biggest domestic US investment since the Johnson years. There are three issues at the core of this proposal. One is to finally start fixing the broken roads, bridges, airports, and mass transportation systems in the USA. The second has to do with things like universal broadband and 5G access for everyone. The third is all about creating jobs and bringing back jobs that have been sent offshore. Paying attention to the details of this plan will help investors profit as this goes forward.
Where the Biden Jobs and Infrastructure Money Will Go
USA Today published a concise and informative rundown of where the Biden jobs and infrastructure money will go.
His far-reaching American Jobs Plan includes spending to repair aging roads and bridges, jump-start transit projects and rebuild school buildings and hospitals. It would also expand electric vehicles, replace all lead pipes and overhaul the nation’s water systems.
And, the proposal is a jobs program to build a “clean energy workforce” along with expanding domestic manufacturing. It also targets caregiving of the aging US population. Here is a “big picture” breakdown.
- $621 Billion for transportation infrastructure-roads, railroads, bridges, electric vehicles
- $650 Billion to fix water systems, expand broadband, repair schools, public buildings
- $400 Billion to expand caregiver access to elderly and disabled
- $300 Billion to research, development, and domestic manufacturing
We wrote about top infrastructure investment opportunities. The actual proposal provides more details for investors.
What Is Infrastructure?
This word is used a lot these days but what is it? Infrastructure includes physical technologies and structures, organizational structures, and facilities that are needed for a society to function effectively. Thus, roads and mass transit systems fall into this category as do water systems, caregiver access for the elderly and disabled, and programs to keep the US at the top of scientific research and development.
The Sad State of Infrastructure In the United States
The USA has a $20 Trillion economy that relies on infrastructure like the interstate highway system that was put in place decades ago. Too many of these systems have been neglected. We see on the news that a bridge in a major city collapses but with today’s twenty-four hour news cycles we forget until the next disaster happens. The Council on Foreign Relations provides a useful review of the sad state of American infrastructure.
The $20 trillion U.S. economy relies on a vast network of infrastructure from roads and bridges to freight rail and ports to electrical grids and internet provision. But the systems currently in place were built decades ago, and economists say that delays and rising maintenance costs are holding economic performance back. Civil engineers raise safety concerns as well, warning that many bridges are structurally deficient and that antiquated drinking water and wastewater systems pose risks to public health. Meanwhile, Americans’ international peers enjoy more efficient and reliable services, and the U.S. lags behind other developed countries in infrastructure spending.
The Biden proposal aims to remedy increasing shortfalls in our infrastructure in order to increase American efficiency and competitiveness, bringing jobs back to American soil for the first time in generations as well.
What Investments Will Benefit from the Infrastructure Bill
Market Watch looks at stocks that could go up 41% in a year due to the Biden infrastructure and jobs plan. Their article lists individual investments and suggests using the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF PAVE as an easy way to get in on the coming infrastructure-related boom.