Doemeland, DoerteLin, Justin Yifu2012-03-192012-03-192012-01-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3225As the world recovers only slowly from the 2008 financial crisis and Europe is facing a looming debt crisis, concerns have increased that the "new normal" -- a period of high unemployment, low returns on investment, high risks, and low growth -- may become protracted in advanced economies. If growth remains weak, unemployment rates and debt levels will be slow to recede. Consequently, the global recovery may continue to be fragile for years to come. What the world needs now is a growth-lifting strategy. This strategy could take the form of a global infrastructure initiative. Since debt levels are high, governments in the United States and Europe could increase demand and support growth through investments in bottleneck-releasing infrastructure projects that are self-financing. An infrastructure initiative should, however, go beyond the borders of advanced countries and include developing countries. Economic and social returns to infrastructure investments tend to be high in developing countries, which have become increasingly important drivers of global growth. At the same time, infrastructure investments require capital goods, most of which are produced in high-income countries. Scaling up infrastructure investment in developing countries could therefore help generate a virtuous cycle in support of a global recovery.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING STANDARDSACID RAINAGGLOMERATION ECONOMIESAIRPORTSBALANCE SHEETBALANCE SHEETSBANK GUARANTEEBANK LOANSBANKING CRISESBONDBOND ISSUANCESBOND MARKETSBOTTLENECKSBRIDGEBUDGET CONSTRAINTBUDGET CONSTRAINTSBUDGETARY FRAMEWORKBUSINESS CYCLECAPITAL FLOWSCAPITAL FORMATIONCAPITAL MARKETSCAPITAL STOCKCARBON EMISSIONSCONTINGENT LIABILITIESCOUNTRY RISKCOUNTRY RISKSCREDIT SPREADSCREDITORCREDITORSCREDITWORTHINESSDEBTDEBT BURDENDEBT CRISISDEBT LEVELSDEBT SERVICEDECENTRALIZATIONDEFAULT RISKDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT BANKDISBURSEMENTSDOMESTIC CAPITALDOMESTIC CAPITAL MARKETDOMESTIC CAPITAL MARKETSDOMESTIC CURRENCYDRIVERSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIES OF SCALEELASTICITYEMERGING ECONOMIESEMERGING MARKETEMERGING MARKET ECONOMIESEMERGING MARKETSENVIRONMENTAL COSTSENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGESENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYEQUITY FUNDEXCHANGE RATEEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESEXPORTERSEXTERNAL BORROWINGFINANCE INFRASTRUCTUREFINANCESFINANCIAL ASSETSFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL STABILITYFINANCIAL STRESSFISCAL POLICYFORECLOSURESFOREIGN CURRENCYFOREIGN INVESTMENTSFOSSIL FUELFOSSIL FUEL ENERGYFUELGLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGEGLOBAL MARKETSGLOBAL TRADEGOVERNMENT BONDSGOVERNMENT BUDGETSGOVERNMENT DEBTGOVERNMENT GUARANTEESGOVERNMENT SPENDINGHIGH TRANSPORTHIGHWAYHIGHWAY ACTHIGHWAY ADMINISTRATIONHIGHWAYSHOST COUNTRIESHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHUMAN CAPITALINCOME LEVELSINFLATIONINFLATION RATESINFLATIONARY EXPECTATIONSINFRASTRUCTURE BONDSINFRASTRUCTURE COSTSINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE FINANCEINFRASTRUCTURE FINANCINGINFRASTRUCTURE FUNDINGINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTSINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSINSTITUTIONAL INVESTORINSTITUTIONAL INVESTORSINSURANCEINSURANCE COMPANIESINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL BONDINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL INVESTORSINTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATIONINTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEMINVESTINGINVESTMENT HORIZONINVESTMENT IN ROADSINVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIESINVESTMENT RISKSINVESTMENT SPENDINGINVESTMENT STRATEGYINVESTOR BASEISSUANCESLAND TRANSPORTLEGAL FRAMEWORKLIABILITYLIQUID ASSETSLIQUIDITYLOANLOAN GUARANTEESLOCAL BANKSLOCAL ECONOMYLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLONG-TERM INVESTMENTSLONG-TERM INVESTORSMACROECONOMIC POLICIESMACROECONOMIC POLICYMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET SHAREMASS TRANSITMONETARY POLICYMULTILATERAL LENDERSNATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURENATURAL DISASTERSPENSIONPENSION FUNDSPOLICY RESPONSEPOLITICAL RISKPOPULATION DENSITYPORT FACILITIESPORTFOLIOPORTFOLIOSPRIVATE CAPITALPRIVATE EQUITYPRIVATE FINANCEPRIVATE FINANCINGPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE INVESTMENTSPRIVATE INVESTORPRIVATE INVESTORSPRIVATE PARTIESPUBLIC BANKSPUBLIC DEBTPUBLIC FUNDSPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC PARTNERSHIPSPUBLIC SAVINGPUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONPUBLIC WORKSRAILWAYSRATES OF RETURNREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSREINVESTMENTREPAYMENTREPAYMENTSRETURNRETURNSRETURNS ON EQUITYRISK AVERSIONRISK OF DEFAULTROADROAD IMPROVEMENTSROAD MAINTENANCEROAD SYSTEMROADSRURAL ROADSRURAL TRANSPORTSANITATIONSECONDARY MARKETSECONDARY MARKET ACTIVITYSHORT MATURITIESSHORT-TERM INSTRUMENTSSOCIAL CAPITALSOVEREIGN DEBTSOVEREIGN DEFAULTSTOCK MARKETSSTOCKSTAXTAX COLLECTIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTRADE BALANCETRADINGTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSIT SYSTEMSTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENTTRIPTRUCKSTRUEVEHICLEWATER POLLUTIONWEALTHYIELD CURVEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5940