Opinion: Public Works a Way for Big Donors to Bridge Economic Divide

Billionaire donors looking for ways to stimulate the economy and provide clear public value with their gifts should consider paying for improvements in the country’s decaying bridges, tunnels, and road and rail networks, a Wall Street Journal opinion column argues.

Charles Landow and Courtney Lobel of the Council on Foreign Relations suggest such improvements as an answer to the philanthropist William Conway, who recently asked the public for suggestions on how to give away $1-billion to create jobs.

While private wealth is not sufficient to pay for the tens of billions of dollars in needed infrastructure improvements, it can “fill gaps, jump-start projects, and catalyze others to think creatively about how they can contribute to America’s economic foundation,” the authors write. Such public gestures would serve rich donors’ “enlightened self-interest” at a time of rising anti-Wall Street sentiment, they add.