Biden’s infrastructure plan aims to increase the productivity of the economy over time

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief program, enacted last month, aimed to quickly get the economy back on track. Now officials are determined to increase the speed limit in the long term.

The roughly $ 2.3 trillion spending proposal unveiled on Wednesday would trigger investments in infrastructure over the next decade that officials say would improve the productivity of the economy, for example through improvements in transportation by that facilitate commuters’ access to their jobs, or the expanding rural broadband that is improving. workplace technology.

Economists say these kinds of changes could allow the economy to grow faster in the long run and raise living standards without triggering worrying inflation.

But critics, including business groups and many Republican lawmakers, say the administration’s plan to pay for the measures through tax increases will cut investment, undermining growth. Some note that the plan will increase federal budget deficits, at least temporarily. And some observers say parts of the package will do little to increase productivity and change the economy’s long-term growth path.

“It depends on the investment,” said Alan Auerbach, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, of the potential for long-term growth. “Anything that makes workers more productive and private businesses more productive seems to be helpful.”