The Corner

Economy & Business

Today in Capital Matters: Davis-Bacon and China

Ben Brubeck of the Associated Builders and Contractors writes about the Biden administration’s proposed reforms to the Davis-Bacon Act, which governs wages for government contracts:

The DOL has given just 60 days for taxpayers and industry stakeholders to provide thoughtful and comprehensive comments on these sweeping changes that apply to an estimated $217 billion in federal and federally assisted construction spending per year and provide government-determined wage rates for an estimated 1.2 million U.S. construction workers. Meaningful Davis-Bacon Act regulatory reform would foster robust competition from all members of the construction industry on federally funded contracts and deliver communities the high-quality infrastructure they deserve while providing the best possible value for taxpayers.

Marc Joffe wonders whether we’ve reached peak China:

With per capita GDP so far below advanced-economy levels, it may seem that China has a lot of room for catch-up growth. But poor macroeconomic management and malinvestment of capital into zombie organizations and ill-conceived infrastructure projects may mean China’s ceiling is much lower than that of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or others that have enjoyed substantial catch-up growth spurts before. If we have indeed reached “peak China,” some may need to reconsider their admiration for autocratic technocracies and learn to love the untidiness of competing ideas.

Dominic Pino is the Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow at National Review Institute.
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