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I often hear people talking about how we need more stimulus construction on U.S infrastructure to get the economy moving again. Many talk about all the construction that happened during the depression under FDR as an example and all the spending that came with WWII.
Ok but what happens when a country enters a depression and yet they really don't have a need to have new roads,airports,schools and hospitals built? Say a country already has enough of those things already built. What do they do then? Maybe during the 30's America actually had a need for new roads,schools,airports and hospitals so those things made sense to construct back then. So again,what if a country doesn't need anything new built and enters a depression? Do they just build things for the hell of it?
Is this one reason that Japan's stimulus construction wasn't that effective in the 90s? What did Japan really need to build? Wasn't the country already well developed as far as infrastructure?
You ALWAYS need an infrastructure. It is the lifeline of commerce. If the country enters a depression, it will be for reasons that people are unemployed or underemployed, which IMO was key driver to the great recession of 2007-2009. Yeah, unemployment rate was low, but unemployment rate itself is a poor measure of the reality. People were making less (and most Americans are making no more than they did in 1980), while "demand" is high, credit was cheap and consequently the mess. Getting people employed would be a fix, but not necessarily the answer, to prevent depression. For the ideal solution, manufacturing ought to be brought back, and it won't be easy to turn around from a trend that has been going on for 3-4 decades.
Is this one reason that Japan's stimulus construction wasn't that effective in the 90s? What did Japan really need to build? Wasn't the country already well developed as far as infrastructure?
That was one of the errors of the Japanese stimulus.
You ALWAYS need an infrastructure. It is the lifeline of commerce.
I can see that but what do you build when you already have enough built? I can see how America needed new highways built during and after the depression that led to economic growth. But there will come a point in a country's development where they may no longer need as much infrastructure building that would make a significant dent in a depression.
Infrastructure is of limited stimulative effect because of the red tape involved in any government project like roads. If it's ready to be built, the funding already exists. If the funding isn't there, it's likely to be years before ground is broken - as Obama found out.
You ALWAYS need an infrastructure. It is the lifeline of commerce. If the country enters a depression, it will be for reasons that people are unemployed or underemployed, which IMO was key driver to the great recession of 2007-2009. Yeah, unemployment rate was low, but unemployment rate itself is a poor measure of the reality. People were making less (and most Americans are making no more than they did in 1980), while "demand" is high, credit was cheap and consequently the mess. Getting people employed would be a fix, but not necessarily the answer, to prevent depression. For the ideal solution, manufacturing ought to be brought back, and it won't be easy to turn around from a trend that has been going on for 3-4 decades.
So we take money from the people to pay the people, so they can pay taxes? Does that really makes sense?
I can see that but what do you build when you already have enough built? I can see how America needed new highways built during and after the depression that led to economic growth. But there will come a point in a country's development where they may no longer need as much infrastructure building that would make a significant dent in a depression.
America needs bridges and railway infrastructure today. You can't just build and forget. Here's the state of one such bridge (on I-30) in Dallas, in desperate need for replacement. And yes, that is a hole through the bridge.
I have lived in Dallas area since 1997 and have seen the city grow immensely. Back then the city had the infrastructure. And there has never been a time I have not seen a major construction projects, in fact, several of them going at the same time. Did Dallas have enough? I would bet that such projects in Dallas (and also in Houston) have helped the local economies a lot more than they would have otherwise.
Perhaps we should focus on what can help economic growth? Can getting people employed?
Dams, bridges and plumbing throughout the U.S. is in need of upgrading or repair. There's plenty that needs to be done, too much to overcome to get a project started.
I often hear people talking about how we need more stimulus construction on U.S infrastructure to get the economy moving again. Many talk about all the construction that happened during the depression under FDR as an example and all the spending that came with WWII.
Ok but what happens when a country enters a depression and yet they really don't have a need to have new roads,airports,schools and hospitals built? Say a country already has enough of those things already built. What do they do then? Maybe during the 30's America actually had a need for new roads,schools,airports and hospitals so those things made sense to construct back then. So again,what if a country doesn't need anything new built and enters a depression? Do they just build things for the hell of it?
Do you think we should just let the country crumble in case of another depression? Infrastructure is always in need of repair and growth.
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