Lawmakers passed the nearly $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Nov. 5, 2021, with negotiations still ongoing over Democrats’ $1.75 trillion plan to expand the social safety net and tackle climate change.
The proposed $3 trillion in total spending is not only a big investment but a serious target for fraud.
Most government spending does reach the intended targets – like mass transit, clean energy and broadband internet – but some of the money will undoubtedly be lost to fraud. How much is impossible to predict, but I believe a reasonable estimate based on past spending and research would put it at around 5%, or $150 billion. That’s equivalent to the gross domestic product of Ukraine.
Research shows there are measures that can effectively fight fraud in government spending, like increased government anti-fraud lawsuits.
The problem is that lawmakers don’t always make preventing fraud a priority.