Talk of infrastructure is in the air, as President Trump and his advisors call for $1T in investment, and Democrats propose their own wish lists. Is there an artful deal to be struck?

Professor Christopher B. Leinberger writes that there is—if all sides will admit to uncomfortable truths and recognize where previous federal infrastructure spending has proved ineffective and even damaging. In an article for The American Conservative and Washington Monthly magazines, Leinberger argues that the "drivable suburban" model that defines most American development is the product of significant federal subsidy, leaving the "walkable urban" communities now in high demand undersupplied and even suppressed. By empowering local decision making, requiring beneficiaries to have skin in the game, and not letting the federal government pick winners and losers, it will be possible to forge a cross-ideological way forward.

Join us for a conversation on bipartisan solutions to getting the economy moving and letting those who benefit fund transportation, moderated by R Street's Jonathan Coppage. 

Christopher Leinberger

Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar & Research Professor; Chair, Center for Real Estate

& Urban Analysis at the George Washington University School of Business

Robert Puentes

President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation

Christopher Coes

 Vice President of Real Estate Policy and External Affairs at Smart Growth America

Salim Furth

Research Fellow in Macroeconomics at the Heritage Foundation

Jonathan Coppage, Moderator

Visiting Senior Fellow in Urbanism at the R Street Institute

Lunch will be provided.