Michel Hudson
Tollbooth Trump
Michael Hudson | President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and Guest Professor at Peking University
3 comments:
“That’s how America got rich and came to dominate the world industrial economy: by publicly subsidizing its basic costs: Low-cost roads, and low-cost other infrastructure. The government bore these costs so that public infrastructure would subsidize the economy to lower the cost of doing business.”
Erie Canal was privately financed.... Railroads were privately financed... Automobiles privately financed.... aircraft privately financed... etc...
Even the Interstate Hwys were paid for during a period of dis-saving of the WW2 war bonds...
So in effect they were financed by non-govt sector ....
If Trump can get some people to dis-save in USTs and shift their current stocks of those types of USDs into USD denominated muni bonds that flow can create the income to pay the construction firms and workers to upgrade the infrastructure...
Increasing the leading flow of USDs from the Treasury account to the non-govt sector is not the ONLY way to increase flows within the non-govt sector... its the most direct way but not the ONLY way...
Matt, come on. The PRIVATE SECTOR ALONE is responsible for those transportation innovations above? You are cherry picking from the bottom of the tree. I think you are being too loose in using the term "financed".
How would you rank/value government's involvement in land acquisition and expansion of eminent domain theory for the Erie Canal? Eminent domain and land grants played a huge role for the railroads too. Also, eminent domain was very important in gaining urban area right of ways for interstates. Without government, how much cost does this add to the private sectors bill to build these marvels of transportation with just the things I mentioned. There are many other areas where government points of value can be found and added to my list.
You are probably familiar with Mariana Mazzucato's, "The Entrepreneurial State." She brilliantly makes the case that the private sector is great at the short term investment/efficiencies but not at all good with long term investments because of the high risk of failure.
I'm not a lefty, nor a righty, but like to think I'm in the middle where my (critically thinking) brain is.
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