I would love to see a return to investing in and updating some of the physical infrastructure that has degraded over time.
In the USA there are a huge amounts of bridges that need updating/repairing, dams needing repair (or removal), roads needing repair, dilapidated school buildings needing updating (as well as energy efficiency updates), etc. There seems like TONS of work to be done to refresh our aging physical infrastructure.
Yes, but the US infrastructure is largely intact and well maintained. We can keep building roads and bridges, but we don't need any more. We could rebuild our airports/seaports, but the impact there would be more efficient air travel, not the economic boom you get from the original port. Commuter rail is a pretty good option, but only in certain regional areas and perhaps some municipal areas. Libraries, jails, courthouses, schools -- maybe there are some projects there, but again I don't see those as leading to an economic boom.
I really don't see as many good options for infrastructure spending as a country like China has (who, let's be honest, is playing catch-up). Perhaps we could do something real crazy, like build a space elevator, to create new markets rather than trying to build stuff for the sake of building stuff.
The state of infrastructure, both physical and technical, in this country is quite sorry.
There would be plenty of well paid union and trades jobs to be had if we could pony up the funds to rehab, repair, and replace the crumbling bridges, roads, pipelines, sewers, etc across the country.
If the US stopped pouring so much money into blowing up and rebuilding other countries' infrastructure, maybe the US would have some more money to rebuild their own?
America's infrastructure as a whole seems to be on the verge of collapse.
Our electrical grids are decades old and cannot support the number of people we now have, nor their increasing power demands. Our roads are cracking, and our bridges are crumbling. In the few locations we do have trains, they're old, diesel-powered, and poorly maintained.
As a nation, we steadfastly refuse to invest in boring-but-necessary things that would dramatically improve the lives of average people.
The infrastructure in this country is in an absolutely dilapidated state. Roads are potholed, bridges are collapsing, water and sewage pipes date back to the Civil War, Internet connectivity is expensive and slow. There's more than enough work to keep a whole lot of people busy for a generation, if we're willing to pay for it.
I wish the massive financial bailout money could be used to build and improve infrastructure. There doesn't seem to be a lack of money but it never seem to do anything useful.
It’s too bad the US doesn’t have a “redo” cycle. Ie changing infrastructure or rebuilding anything is almost never seriously done. It’s like we’re all locked into the same mold.
Can't we just build a new infrastructure at that point? The current infrastructure worked well for about a decade. If we have to rebuild every decade then that's not so bad.
reply