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Investment in U.S. infrastructure lags behind the levels necessary to maintain the country’s roads, bridges, ports, railways, and other transportation networks. As this infrastructure deteriorates, U.S. businesses face increasing transportation costs, while households face increasing water and electricity service costs. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that by 2025, this investment deficit, if left alone, will cost the U.S. economy $4 trillion and 2.5 million jobs.
Maintaining current standards of surface transportation infrastructure will require an investment of approximately $2 trillion through 2025, of which only $941 billion has been earmarked, a 54 percent deficit. Maintaining current standards of water infrastructure (such as drinking water and sewage systems) will require an investment of $150 billion in the same period, of which only $45 billion has been earmarked, a 70 percent deficit.
For more on this issue, including other areas of the U.S. economy where investment isn’t sufficient, see ITIF’s recent report, “Restoring Investment in America’s Economy.”
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