A long expansion could also produce higher productivity as companies strive to get more out of every dollar of capital and hour of work and as the strong economy encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.
Infrastructure work also supports activity in private firms, because they are doing much of the work on these projects on behalf of the public sector. And we are hearing from our contacts in industry that it is also spurring private businesses to invest in new equipment, to support that activity. Better public infrastructure is also thought to boost productivity in the economy more broadly.