The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will fail if we don’t address worker and supply shortages

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has made money for broadband and other infrastructure much less scarce than it normally is. Unfortunately, the real resources—labor and equipment—appear to be far scarcer than they normally are. Even with the additional money, the IIJA will not succeed if these constraints on real resources are not addressed. The only real-time solution is to waive the “buy American” rules on equipment and encourage more immigration to help ease the labor shortage. Additional government spending makes a difference if it generates something new rather than diverting, supplanting, or otherwise crowding out other potential projects as workers, supplies, and equipment shift to the government’s program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) should waive the “buy American” provision so that those building new broadband facilities have a larger source of supplies. Supply chains are stressed around the globe, but it is still better to be able to buy inputs from the much larger global market (of unsanctioned countries) than to be restricted to only the domestic market. Similarly, we should welcome with open arms people of all skill levels from other countries who would happily take the un-, semi-, and highly skilled jobs we desperately need to fill to make the IIJA work.

[Scott Wallsten is president and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute.]