Does America Need a National Infrastructure Bank?

A new report published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace proposes, among other things, a 5%-per-barrel tax on petro and the creation of the National Infrastructure Bank to cope with transportation budget cuts.

1 minute read

July 24, 2011, 7:00 AM PDT

By Jeff Jamawat


Former Senator Bill Bradley, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, and former Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office David Walker authored a 129-page plan titled "Road to Recovery: Transforming America's Transportation." In it, the Democrat-Republican-Independent trio broach many urgent issues pertinent to America's transportation infrastructure, including the dwindling National Highway Trust, deficit spending, and rampant earmarks.

Daniel Ferry observes, "The centerpiece of the plan is a bold proposal to levy a tax on oil at the point of production or importation, and put a corresponding tax on fuel sold to consumers at the pump. [...] The tax burden, therefore, falls both on oil companies and gasoline consumers, and stabilizes the price of fuel at the pump within a narrow range."

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a nonpartisan global think tank founded in 1910.

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