Policy making is challenging because of the plethora of unintended consequences that inevitably attend any change in the status quo. While it seems intuitive that enhanced federal funding is beneficial for infrastructure, the reality is more nuanced.
George Mason’s Center for the Study of the Administrative State published my paper exploring the nuances of federal funding and describing the hidden costs of nationalizing our infrastructure policy. These costs include diminished quality, misaligned incentives, regulatory burdens, budgetary substitution, and inflation. Even more concerning is the potential for federal funding and control to undermine our constitutional right to petition and seek local redress for local problems.