Austerity and Infrastructure

Good morning! This week we feature a presentation by Dr. Heather Whiteside, assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo and fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. In this brief presentation, Dr. Whiteside speaks to the connections between financialization, austerity, and infrastructure in the post-2008 period. Dr. Whiteside addresses the increasing financialization of public infrastructure as a means of achieving sustained returns on investment in a low growth environment. Financialization is another form of 'alternate financing' for public infrastructure, like public-private partnerships, but both typically favour investor returns over public interests (or cost). Dr. Whiteside situates these developments in a context of low public debt-GDP ratios at the federal level and in a period of historically low interest rates, opening up the possibilities for 'alternatives to alternative finance'.

You can find the PowerPoint on our 'Research Page' under 'Spending, Reform, and Marketization'. We will post the full paper from Dr. Whiteside in the coming weeks! 

To see more from Heather, you can visit her profile at the University of Waterloo: https://uwaterloo.ca/political-science/people-profiles/heather-whiteside

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