The hidden financial engine behind America’s building boom

Monica Ningen is the CEO of U.S. Property & Casualty Reinsurance for Swiss Re.

Across the country, massive new factories, semiconductor plants, and football-field-sized AI data centers are reshaping America’s landscape. More than 1,500 data centers are under development nationwide. Construction spending has surged to nearly two-and-a-half times what it was five years ago, and this year the United States is on pace to spend roughly $2.2 trillion—almost the GDP of Canada—on construction.

Ironically, America is building more at the exact moment the world is becoming far more dangerous to build in. In each of the past six years, natural catastrophes such as wildfires, hurricanes, and floods have caused at least $100 billion in insured losses globally, and the U.S. often bears the brunt.

And yet the concrete keeps pouring.

Because behind nearly every major project in America is a resilient financial infrastructure that helps manage risk and sustain investment. Yet because this financial infrastructure operates largely behind the scenes, its contributions to America’s economic growth and resilience often go unnoticed by policymakers or the public.

When Americans think about the growing role of financial services in today’s economy, they tend to be skeptical. After all, events like the 2008 financial crisis seemingly demonstrated the risks of relying too heavily on complex financial mechanisms.

But failures in finance are memorable precisely........

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