Thursday, December 15, 2016

Peter Cooper — Not Investing in Infrastructure, Culture and Knowledge IS the Burden We Place on Future Generations

If we were to believe most politicians, we’d be under the mistaken impression that government not investing today does future generations a favor. Leaving communications systems underdeveloped, road and transport networks crumbling, education and public health systems deteriorating, our cultural institutions eroding, developments in science and technology stagnating, and so on, will supposedly free future generations of any burden that might otherwise be imposed upon them.
If we set aside the politicians’ Orwellian Newspeak, it is obvious that investing in infrastructure today helps future generations, and not investing in it leaves future generations in a worse state. It is also clear that this investment for the benefit of future generations requires no reduction in our own current levels of consumption when, as now, many unemployed and part-time workers want full-time jobs and there are plant, machines and other equipment being left unused....
heteconomist
Not Investing in Infrastructure, Culture and Knowledge IS the Burden We Place on Future Generations
Peter Cooper

3 comments:

Matt Franko said...

"road and transport networks crumbling, education and public health systems deteriorating, our cultural institutions eroding,"

idk about Australia but here in US a lot of those things are funded at the state and local level and that level has been crushed by ZIRP for the last 8 years...

Now with the Fed on the move up expect to see a recovery in those areas in the US proportional to Fed rate increases...

Every 0.25% from the Fed is $50B annual interest income on the "$20 Trillion!" out there... state and local govts have their share of this "$20 Trillion!"....

Six said...

Nah, right wing state governments will just use increased income from the end of ZIRP to fund tax cuts for their wealthy donors and to "lure investment!".

Matt Franko said...

Six the ERISA accounts are separate accounts...

If there are shortfalls in the ERISA accounts they have to make it up out of general revenues...

Once the ERISA accounts get well via the higher rates the govts will have more left over to pay vendors and the vendors make plenty of donations too so this will probably go $4$.... may even get to over-funded ERISA accounts if the Fed goes high enough which is probably when any tax cuts would come in ...