Anyone trying to make sense of the recent street protests in Brazil should begin 30 years ago, when the country’s economy was struggling with rampant inflation and sluggish growth. In the decades since, Brazil has transformed into a global economic powerhouse that has lifted an increasing number of people into the middle class.

Similar to most countries, the global financial crisis has hurt Brazil, and with the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament and Summer Olympic Games on the horizon the country is balancing preparations to accommodate millions of tourists with providing services and opportunity to many citizens who are growing accustomed to rising standards of living. 

The market for private investment in U.S. infrastructure is both alluring and frustrating. It is a great emerging infrastructure market opportunity and yet for all its promise, it remains a paradox. As the epicenter of global capitalism, many expected private investment in U.S. infrastructure would be a no-brainer.

Instead, what many have learned is that the United States’ political and governing institutions and traditions — state, local and federal governments; transportation authorities; regional oversight bodies; environmental regulations; and so on — are quite different from what they are used to. 

Andy Kunz is president and CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association (USHSRA), a Washington D.C.–based nonprofit trade association that is mobilizing the industry to develop a 27,358-kilometer national high-speed rail system built in phases and completed by 2030. Before arriving at USHSRA, Kunz won several national design awards for a wide variety of projects including a number of new towns and transit-oriented developments. Institutional Investing in Infrastructuresenior editor Drew Campbell spoke with Kunz recently about the progress of high-speed rail in the United States.