The Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing
What is truly remarkable about the politics of the early 21st century is how the difference between a cost and an investment has been undermined. This week, the Institute on Research for Public Policy released a report which estimated that it would take $200 billion to repair Canada’s crumbling infrastructure.
And, in Newsweek, Michael Tomasky reports that — in the United States — the need for infrastructure investment is critical:
The most recent infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers gives the United States a D overall, including bleak marks in 15 categories ranging from roads (D-minus) to schools and transit (both D’s) to bridges (C). The society calls for $2.2 trillion in infrastructure investments over the next five years.
More importantly, writes Tomasky, public support for such investment is strong:
. . . support for such investments among the general public is broad and deep and crosses ideological boundaries, notes Nicholas Turner, who heads transportation initiatives for the Rockefeller Foundation. “The bipartisan support was stunning,” Turner says. In a poll the foundation commissioned in February, even 59 percent of Tea Party supporters considered infrastructure investment to be vital. But as long as Barack Obama is for it, the Tea Partiers in Washington will fight it.
As a baby boomer, I benefited from government policies which enabled my father — a World War II veteran — to get a university education. And I benefited from policies which invested in my own education — from kindergarten to university.
There was a time when governments — both liberal and conservative — knew an investment when they saw it. These days, governments of all stripes seem to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Owen Gray grew up in Montreal, where he received a B. A. from Concordia University. After crossing the border and completing a Master’s degree at the University of North Carolina, he returned to Canada, married, raised a family and taught high school for 32 years. Now retired, he lives — with his wife and youngest son — on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. This post is cross posted from his blog.
3 Responses to “The Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing”
I am still shocked that no one has used the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis to make their case for infrastructure spending. This is one of the things that frustrates me most about the Democratic party: they don’t even known how to argue for their own positions! Here is a clear and present argument, something that killed 13 people, for infrastructure spending, and is anyone using it?? No!
I remember during the last Congressional election cycle Chris Matthews asked a question of the just-defeated Democratic leadership [paraphrased]: “the Dems used to be known for building things. That was their bread-and-butter/ No longer.” Too true. Now they’re only known for hyperbole.
They need to put a real face on infrastructure spending if they’re going to get it through.
Boy this hits the nail right on the head. Especially with the grand finale.
Lets see, I want to create more business when business has reached it’s saturation point. I’ve only got so much money, so where do I put it?
I can reduce tax on the saturated business, at most that would give it 35%. That business now has 35% more money in the bank for next year to spend for expansion. Now what’s the point of expansion if there is no more market to sell to, because well, the market is already saturated? The business says: “thanks for the 35%, but I think I’ll just sit on it and collect interest”…because I’m smart.
Or
I can create a market. Hey we need these bridges rebuilt, dams repaired, and some new highways laid, airports…etc.. We can do all this infrastructure work in a manor that helps business grow like it did under Dwight Eisenhower.
I start to think: Well what happens when we are finished with the infrastructure rebuilds? Not sure, but don’t it make better sense to do something now than to just sit on the capital doing nothing?
In other words, lets do SOMETHING until we figure our what we are going to do. Why? Because it has worked in the past…and…well…WE are smart.
Gov. Daniels here in Indiana just had a bridge closed on the Kentucky border because of structural deficiencies. Unfortunately the bridge will be down for the time being because Sen. McConnell refuses to allocate money for it’s repair.
I just don’t get these Republicans! There are so many bridges here in our state that need repairs. Perhaps once we unfortunately have another incident like in Minnesota then we’ll have a move towards building up our country!