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Investing in infrastructure isn't silly if it is a large project that only government could afford, addresses a current or near future problem, and has favorable return on investment.

Widening highways and filling potholes has been more about giving states a short-term bailout under the name of stimulating the economy.




I'm not saying all infrastructure projects are a bad idea. I'm just pointing out that the thesis of the author is silly. Jobs are being created in India rather than in the US, and better infrastructure won't bring those jobs back.

In the US, a single bridge collapse is a national outrage, and a sign of "crumbling infrastructure". India has had at least one major collapse per year for the past 5 years:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/bridge-col... http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/india-bridge-coll... http://articles.cnn.com/2008-10-19/world/india.bridge_1_metr... http://www.rupya.com/archives/2007/09/10/hyderabad-bridge-co... http://www.indiadaily.org/entry/bridge-collapse-contractors-...

The NYC subways are crowded at rush hour. Here are Indian trains:

http://www.google.com/images?q=india+train&um=1&ie=U...

Suffice it to say, jobs are being created in India rather than here in spite of infrastructure. If infrastructure mattered, the jobs would already be here. US infrastructure is top class - roughly the same as in all other first world countries (Japan, France, UK, etc), and is orders of magnitude better than that of India or China (no week-long traffic jams, for instance).

(Not trying to single out India, I just know more about India than China, the Philippines, or other popular outsourcing sites.)




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