One Big Chinese Lesson for America’s Infrastructure Plan
It’s not just about laying down tracks for superfast trains. It’s about letting the public sector benefit from increasing land values.
Can Chinese infrastructure translate in the U.S.?
Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/BloombergIf President Joe Biden is planning to transform America’s infrastructure with the $2.25 trillion plan unveiled last week, he could do worse than learn from China.
Its spending on roads, rails, bridges, metro systems and telecommunications and new cities since the 2008 financial crisis has transformed the country. A nation that opened its first true high-speed rail line between Beijing and Tianjin in 2008 now has more fast lines than the rest of the world put together. About 42 cents out of every dollar invested in public capital globally between 2008 and 2017 was spent in China.