ARTICLES BY RORY LINEHAN
April 2025
Harnessing Technology to Bridge Capacity Constraints
Infrastructure is the foundation of thriving communities, shaping our daily lives and driving economic growth.
From clean water and reliable electricity to efficient transit systems, we rely on it every day. But when infrastructure falls short, the impacts are immediate, disrupting lives, weakening economies, and damaging the environment.
We have reached a global inflection point. The need for infrastructure investment is the greatest in generations and is still growing. According to the World Bank, meeting global infrastructure demands requires 4.5 percent of global GDP. While many countries fall below this threshold, some, such as China, have long invested above five percent of the GDP in infrastructure.
Jan 2025
How Rising Treasury Yields Threaten U.S. Infrastructure Investment
We are only 13 days into 2025 and there are already many issues that require our attention. Chief among those, is the Los Angles fires. My heart goes out to the people of Los Angeles, including my aunt, uncle and cousins, who are battling wildfires. My family is safe and out of harm’s way, but many others have not been so fortunate, including the 16 who lost their lives and thousands more who lost their livelihoods. This unfolding tragedy is a stark reminder of the challenges of preparing our communities for the unprecedented dangers increasingly stemming from climate change…
Jan 2025
Harnessing Development Aid: A Smarter Path to US Security and Economic Growth
A small order with big implications was included in President Trump’s flurry of first-day actions: —the decision to suspend foreign aid until further review. The move reflects the lack of appetite in the United States for spending money abroad, a fact laid bare by last year’s much-delayed assistance to Ukraine. More broadly, President Trump’s order is consistent with the previous two administrations’ reliance on domestic policies, including trade protection, to achieve America’s economic goals.Â
Yet development assistance remains one of America’s most powerful economic and security tools. The US spends more than $60 billion annually on projects ranging from sanitation to healthcare to critical infrastructure. Rather than doing less, the US would benefit from doing much more…
Oct 2024
There Isn’t Enough Money for Infrastructure—Here’s How to Make it go Further
According to the United Nations, 92% of the Sustainable Development Goals could be achieved through infrastructure investment alone. But fulfilling infrastructure’s great promise requires an enormous increase over current funding levels. Right now, the funding gap exceeds $6 trillion annually—a sum larger than Germany’s total economic output. To realize infrastructure’s potential, we need nothing less than a Marshall Plan for infrastructure, an Interstate Highway Network for the world, or an Industrial Revolution for people and the planet.
The obvious solution is to raise more capital. Yet governments face significant barriers to public spending, especially as budget deficits rise and public support for spending money overseas falls. Efforts to mobilize private capital have also underperformed. Despite vast reserves of private capital—and a heavy focus on private-sector mobilization at the G20—infrastructure investment has barely grown over the last decade…
Aug 2024
Shielding Developers from Corruption Key to Advancing International Infrastructure Investment Essential to US Interests
In a bid to provide a US led alternate to international infrastructure and development initiatives such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the US in recent years has put forward a number of its own initiatives such as the BUILD Act, which established the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in 2019. These initiatives have helped move the needle, albeit slightly, on funding and financing infrastructure projects. Yet a challenging international business landscape for infrastructure delivery is hindering US strategic and economic objectives abroad. More needs to be done to help US firms with this pressing problem.Â
US companies still face considerable challenges in participating in the design, delivery, and operation of infrastructure abroad. Some of these hurdles they face include corruption, reputational risks, limited returns, workforce, strategic planning and supply chain issues. There are few resources to help US firms navigate such challenges like corruption in this space…
April 2024
US Must Correct Unintended Consequences of Basel III That Suppress Infrastructure Financing
The global economy needs to completely transform itself over the next two decades. We need to comprehensively retrofit, remodel, and construct our economic system to achieve our net zero and sustainable development goals. It is a herculean task that will require unprecedented levels of compromise, cooperation and importantly, investment.
Sustainable infrastructure is the backbone to this transformation. We’ll need to retrofit our buildings to make them more energy efficient and resilient to increased weather events. We must remodel our systems of transportation so that we can move from A to B with zero emissions. We’ll have to construct infrastructure that can protect our coastal communities from sea level rise while restoring nature to rebuild species fundamental for the planet’s well-being, such as bees…
March 2024
Australia’s Deepening Ties with ASEAN Benefits America
During a recent visit to my hometown and Australia’s capital, Canberra, I couldn’t help but notice the cavalcade of motorcades, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) flags and excitement in the air, as the leaders of ASEAN descended on Australia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue.
The Summit was remarkable in many ways. It represented the strong relationship between ASEAN countries and Australia and shared values. At their closest points, Australia and ASEAN are just 90 miles apart. They share rich government, cultural and economic linkages.
The Leaders’ Vision Statement underscored the shared commitment for a rules-based regional order in the Indo-Pacific, underpinned by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This was a not-so-subtle response to many ASEAN members concerns with China’s aggression in the South China Sea..