Redefining Infrastructure for a Modern Economy

President Biden is pushing the boundaries of how most Americans think of infrastructure.

In a speech on Wednesday, he laid out his vision for revitalizing the nation’s infrastructure in broad, sweeping terms: evoking racial equality, climate change and support for the middle class.

His multitrillion-dollar plan aims not only to repair roads and bridges, but also to bolster the nation’s competitiveness in things like 5G, semiconductors and human infrastructure.

Today, we take a detailed look at what his plans entail and the congressional path he will have to navigate to get it passed.

Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• President Biden began selling his infrastructure proposal on Wednesday, saying that it will fix 20,000 miles of roads and 10,000 bridges while also addressing climate change and racial inequities and raising corporate taxes.
• Here is how his $2 trillion in proposed spending on infrastructure breaks down.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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