A The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Inforum at the University of Maryland recently completed a
new study that provides insight into the economic benefits the U.S. economy would reap with a more concerted effort to address the nation’s infrastructure needs. The study finds that a targeted and long-term increase in public infrastructure investments from all public and private sources over the next 15 years will:
- Increase jobs by almost 1.3 million at the onset of an initial boost;
- Grow real GDP 1.3 percent by 2020 and 2.9 percent by 2030;
- Create a progressively more productive economy, which, due to cumulative effects through time, will benefit from a $3 return on investment for every $1 invested in infrastructure by 2030; and
- Provide Americans an increase in take-home pay after taxes—a $1,300 net gain per household by 2020 and $4,400 per household by 2030 (measured in 2009 dollars).
The NAM report also reveals a decade of troubling trends in infrastructure formation, such as a 3.5 percent drop per year in the volume of highway, road and bridge investments as well as further sharp decreases in mass transit, aviation and water transportation infrastructure investment. Last year, the NAM sounded the alarm on this troubling trend by partnering with Building America’s Future to
survey manufacturers about their perspectives on the state of infrastructure in the United States.
For more information on the study, visit
www.nam.org/infrastructure.
