Expert provides an essential guide for the future of American infrastructure

Build by I Squared Capital founder and NYU Development Research Institute senior fellow Sadek Wahba explains how American infrastructure collapsed and what can be done to repair it.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2024 America's infrastructure—its essential roads, bridges, ports, airports, power grids, and telecommunications systems—was once the pride of the nation and an example to the world. But now, after years of neglect, this infrastructure is crumbling and causing catastrophic changes in the US quality of life. Build by I Squared Capital founder and NYU Development Research Institute senior fellow Sadek Wahba explains how American infrastructure collapsed and what can be done to repair it.

In a series of colorful, rarely told cases, Build takes readers on a revealing tour behind the scenes of the successes and debacles of key infrastructure projects to show what works; why the United States has failed in recent decades to invest in infrastructure; and how the private sector can help revitalize the sector, spur job growth, and contribute to climate resilience. Wahba examines the private origins of US infrastructure and the federally funded mega-projects that came after the New Deal, investigating the role the private sector can and should play in building infrastructure. By drawing comparisons with the United Kingdom, France, India, and China, Wahba shows that while privatization and public-private partnerships cannot solve all infrastructure challenges, they are essential for closing funding gaps, overcoming political paralysis, and driving major infrastructure advances.

"In Build, Sadek Wahba makes a compelling case for greater private sector involvement in America's infrastructure investment. This book is essential reading for anyone who cares about our long-term success in the 21st century and beyond." —President Bill Clinton

Build is for anyone interested in learning about how we can meet the challenges of the twenty first century. Wahba argues that we need to break out of the cycle of short-term, stop-gap solutions that have characterized the approach to solving this problem in recent years, and instead come up with a plan to maintain and grow American infrastructure in a permanent and sustainable way. Incisive and compellingly presented, this book offers the way forward.