Infrastructure Spending Spree Risks More Bridges to Nowhere
Before we get too excited about the prospect of infrastructure projects reviving the flagging US economy, it’s worth taking a look at the current state of affairs. David Leonhardt in the New York Times sounds a cautionary note in a column highlighting the haphazard and inefficient use of taxpayers’ infrastructure dollars. He notes that spending is up 50 percent over the last 10 years, after adjusting for inflation. As a share of the economy, it will be higher this year than in any year since 1981. But:
“It’s hard to exaggerate how scattershot the current system is. Government agencies usually don’t even have to do a rigorous analysis of a project or how it would affect traffic and the environment, relative to its cost and to the alternatives — before deciding whether to proceed. In one recent survey of local officials, almost 80 percent said they had based their decisions largely on politics, while fewer than 20 percent cited a project’s potential benefits.”
The United States is one of the few countries in the world to make the majority of its transportation investments without first conducting any kind of economic analysis to determine whether those investments will have any practical benefits for commuters or shippers. The results are telling.- Mary Peters, secretary of transportation
“The current system is so inefficient that even a minimal amount of change would represent progress. If you want your project moved to the front of the line, you should have to come to Washington bearing hard data — not flimsy boosterism — about its economic and environmental benefits.”
“…infrastructure doesn’t have to just mean just bridges and tunnels,” Leonhart writes. “It can also mean schools and homes. One intriguing idea is for the government to subsidize basic renovations to make houses more energy efficient. This would have the added benefit of putting unemployed construction workers and contractors back to work.”
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