The National Investment Authority: A Blueprint

While many schemes for a National Investment Authority have been proposed by organizations across the political spectrum, targeting everything from infrastructure banking to venture investment in manufacturing, Professor Saule Omarova’s approach to the issue is unique. The NIA is not a typical stand-alone institution, nor is it incompatible with other similar projects. Rather, it is a modular legal framework for an ecosystem of public investment funds that allow for the state to leverage its position as the sovereign issuer of money and renegotiate the terms of investment with private capital.

“The National Investment Authority: An Institutional Blueprint” expands Omarova’s prior work into an administrative proposal that can guide leaders in crafting legislation. In keeping with her focus on the importance of structure, modularity, and administration to success, this legislative outline is designed to present options rather than to commit to one form of implementation. It can be legislated at once, or through multiple iterations. Along with the outline, we include a set of case studies describing what the NIA can do to solve discrete economic problems, including electricity transmission, intercity rail, battery manufacturing, and semiconductor production.