Infrastructure was a persistent theme of Donald Trump’s campaign. He claimed, with some justification, that America’s roads, bridges, ports, waterways and airports were no longer first rate. And he promised to invest a trillion dollars into infrastructure—twice as much as Hillary Clinton proposed. But the difference in their plans was not so much the amount, but how resources were to be delivered, including the role of government versus the private sector.
I am a strategic advisor, author, and columnist. During a 35-year career in urban development I created Reinvestment Fund, one of the nation’s most effective community investment institutions, chaired the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and provided strategic advice to philanthropies, universities, and private companies.