Infrastructure is drowning in private equity | Benefits of renewable energy tokens | The "messy reality" of green cities

Thanks to recent legislation like IIJA and the Inflation Reduction Act, might increased federal investment in US infrastructure also catalyze a dramatic increase in the private sector's ownership of public assets?

A recent op/ed in the New York Times uses a Brookfield infrastructure fund's recent $2B investment in two renewable energy companies to argue that when governments leverage private capital, taxpayers and users don't always see the returns they are promised.

In my view (and the view of many who commented on the original article), the author's fears are overblown. Yes, it is true as the op/ed points out that there have been some poor outcomes on privately financed projects - from Macquarie's stake in the Metro Line 9 in South Korea to Britain's experience generally with privatizing education, housing, and water assets. And the US does have a strong tradition of public ownership of infrastructure assets dating back to the New Deal.