a top economic adviser to president-elect donald trump said<u+00a0>wednesday<u+00a0>that the new administration was exploring the creation of an infrastructure bank, an idea that has received mixed support from republicans in the past. trump transition official steven mnuchin, who is considered a candidate for treasury secretary, told reporters in new york that he and mr. trump had already discussed their proposed tax-code rewrite. <u+201c>i think the other thing<u+2014>very big focus<u+2014>is regulatory changes, looking at the creation of an infrastructure bank to fund infrastructure investments,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>we want to be in a position where in the first 100 days we can execute the economic plan.<u+201d> last month, two other economic advisers to mr. trump sketched out a proposal for $1 trillion in new infrastructure construction over 10 years that relies entirely on private financing. to jump-start the building projects, the government would provide tax credits to developers. that paper, from economist peter navarro and financier wilbur ross, didn<u+2019>t specifically reference an infrastructure bank, and instead criticized a proposed infrastructure bank by democratic rival hillary clinton as a <u+201c>high-risk<u+2026>leveraging scheme<u+201d> that was potentially as <u+201c>rife with economic problems as it is with the prospect of crony capitalism.<u+201d> david malpass, an economist who is overseeing economic policy in the trump transition, told economists last month any infrastructure program would focus primarily on attracting private investment, and reducing permitting and other hurdles to construction. <u+201c>what<u+2019>s broken in the system is not the sources of financing for infrastructure, but the obstacles to actually getting it built,<u+201d> mr. malpass said. given the large amounts of cash earning little because of low and negative interest rates around the world, <u+201c>all i have to do is show you an infrastructure project that returns zero<u+2026>and it<u+2019>s going to break even,<u+201d> said mr. malpass. write to nick timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
adviser says trump considering infrastructure bank     - wsj
nick timiraos