Defining a National Infrastructure Bank

Matt Dellinger explains how this sort of a bank could operate.

"So what is this magical Infrastructure Bank? Economists and politicians of many stripes have heralded the NIB as an answer to our infrastructure funding problems, as a way to attract private investment, and as a mechanism to better tackle major projects of national and regional significance. Boosters make the NIB sound like free money, a bottomless pot of cash. Perhaps they gloss over the details because the NIB is complicated, a new concept for American infrastructure, and there are competing ideas about how it should operate.

But basically, the National Infrastructure Bank would be a wholly-owned government entity run by appointees and would supplement–and to some degree replace–the appropriations system we have now. It would be different in two ways: First, the selection of projects would be more focused and methodical. And secondly, the financing would be more varied, more privatized, and potentially unique to each project."