The amount of increased investment spending that could reasonably be absorbed would be quite modest in comparison with the very large amounts associated with major fiscal issues such as health-care expenses. And even a strong investment agenda would not be a complete response to the economic challenges I have discussed. But, like monetary policy, it could play a useful role.
FDI is also more desirable as it is much less sensitive to global push factors, such as global risk aversion or monetary policy in major economies. The evidence for positive growth effects of FDI in the 8/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  literature is much more robust than for portfolio flows. 24 See Cœuré, B. (2016, op. cit.) and the references given there.