
American Infrastructure Report Card (2013) - perseusprime11
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
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cs702
The state of US infrastructure, compared to most other advanced countries, is
embarrassing (my opinion).

At the same time, markets are offering to lend gobs of money to the US federal
government for 30 years at 2.2%/year.[1]

Why not take advantage of these low rates to borrow and invest in public
infrastructure like sustainable energy generation, modern high-speed
transportation, and ultra-fast (100GB) internet connectivity? Put a team of
top technology entrepreneurs in charge of awarding all contracts to sidestep
corruption and idiocy.

Why not?

[1] [https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-
center/i...](https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-
center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=yield)

~~~
michael_fine
Honest question -- I always see people argue the need for ultra-fast internet,
but I'm not sure what the economic benefit of increasing speeds beyond their
current rate of improvement, which in most parts of the country seems
reasonably sufficient for the vast majority of work, especially given the
bottlenecks are quite often in the home. Would it really provide a comparable
increase in GDP/utility to say, improving transport and saving people
30min/day in their commute?

~~~
rm999
I feel like every time internet speeds increase I find reasons why I'd want it
to be a bit faster. Currently, 4k video adoption is likely being held back by
bandwidth speeds: [http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2015/01/4k-streaming-
bandwidt...](http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2015/01/4k-streaming-bandwidth-
problem.html) \- Youtube recommends encoding 60fps 4k video at 53-68 Mbps,
which is beyond many people's internet connections. The business potential of
technology rarely arises until the mainstream customer can use it.

This study quantifies the gains from a fairly macro perspective:
[https://www.ericsson.com/news/1550083](https://www.ericsson.com/news/1550083).
0.3% GDP growth for doubling internet speeds seems reasonable and is not
unsubstantial. My guess is doubling internet speeds is cheaper than e.g.
adding public transportation to even a small number of cities.

~~~
initram
What's the current market penetration of 4K video? I work in the industry and
have no need for a 4K device. How many normal people even want, let alone have
4K capabilities?

~~~
akiselev
How long did it take for consumers to go from 480p to 720p to 1080p? 4k+
provides little benefit for the average consumer because TVs aren't quite
there yet but with VR/AR on the rise, how long with that remain true?

There are also huge network effects which may cloud the benefits, until
suddenly some mass market consumer application makes it blatantly obvious.
Youtube and Skype are so successful because a significant portion of the world
has access to fast Internet and microphones/cameras to the point where I can
talk to my grandparents in rural Russia despite not being able to visit them
in person for almost a decade. What if our Internet was fast enough and our
displays cheap enough that working remotely or across international offices
becomes as simple as installing several wall sized monitors in geographically
spread out rooms? The display tech will get there eventually (just look at the
stuff Corning is working on), but if there isn't any infrastructure to utilize
the tech it will take much longer for mass adoption. It's a chicken and egg
loop but while the technology improves, we have to make the positive decision
to invest in infrastructure even if the benefits aren't immediately clear.

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tomlock
After I looked at this page I immediately wondered who funded it.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Civil_Engi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Civil_Engineers)

An interesting read!

My main, and likely cynical take away from this however is that this is funded
by people likely to benefit from an increase in infrastructure spending. This
isn't exactly an unbiased view.

~~~
existencebox
While I normally welcome that train of thought, in this case I'm inclined to
ask if they aren't also the leading experts to comment on this sort of thing?
It certainly brings the conflict of interest evident in e.g. cable regulation
vs. industry members, but in this case at least, the organization involved
seems to have more in common with e.g. the ACM/IEEE, and as such I give them a
little more leeway and am more than willing to look for logical arguments.
Sure, always be aware of bias, but in this case, I'm glad that it's a
professional society of civil engineers telling us how dire the civil
engineering situation is; frankly I hear it as a common complaint in CS that
we often don't have our expertise on our domain heard by those in power :)

~~~
pcardh0
Last week, my plumber told me how dire the situation was under the house. Even
though he is an expert, I still got 2 other quotes.

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drawkbox
4 trillion to start to fix our country's infrastructure but we spent $6
trillion in Iraq [1][2] that resulted in ISIS. We used to help rebuild
economies like in Germany/Japan with economic plans implemented after WWII
where everyone mutually benefits. Many other things could have been done to
better economics, economics wins all wars. Maybe that is the long goal but it
is almost two decades in and is in worse condition.

Building up infrastructure leads to better economics on those improved
platforms. How about upgradeable GB internet across the country? How about an
electric car upgradable highway charging system? How about paying down some
debt not making more of it after each war since WWII? We sure know how to
invest...

[1] [http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/18/business/la-fi-mo-
ir...](http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/18/business/la-fi-mo-iraq-war-
cost-20130318)

[2] [http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-iraq-war-
cost-2-trill...](http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-iraq-war-
cost-2-trillion-2013-3)

~~~
tn13
Fiscal consolidation seems like an orphaned child in USA. The left does not
believe in it and the right does not care anymore.

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perseusprime11
If we could pass a public stimulus to help banks become too big to fail, why
can't we get together and pass something similar to help our Infrastructure
too strong to fail?

~~~
tn13
I think as a rule of thumb government money will always flow in the direction
where self interests of politicians and government servants are better served.

Building a road is a time tested government program. It is mature, there is
lots of competition and opportunity for publicity or kickbacks is limited. The
profit margins of the road construction companies are pretty thin too. I dont
think politicians benefit by building a road or bridge. Today they benefit by
having outrageous programs like high speed train that will not see light of
the day for decades to come (or probably never) or transmitting American
programs into Cuba (which the cubans cant hear because the signal is blocked).

The only way is to put a hard constitutional limit on the government spending
as a % of GDP. The government is then forced to take measure to increase GDP
if they want to subsidize education of Chinese prostitutes or spend $$$ on
study effects of LSD on monkeys.

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11thEarlOfMar
I'd characterize the state of Bay Area roads as decrepit.

It's angering that the extra wear on my suspension is costing me money, and
it's really embarrassing when I think about all the folks who come in from
say, Japan or Germany. They have to really wonder what we are thinking.

I suppose it's taken a long time for the state to refill its coffers after the
financial crisis, but that was what, 8 years ago now? Can we get on with it?

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aianus
I think the root issue is that most people would rather drive a Tesla on
'decrepit' roads than pay 50% marginal tax rates and $2/L for gas to drive a
Honda on the Autobahn. Give or take.

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ams6110
We already did that. Remember "shovel ready jobs?"

To bad it was all a scam.

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madengr
Reminds me of a bridge I saw under construction over an interstate in IL. No
road leading to it.

Or the billions in telecom tax breaks for higher speed Internet
infrastructure.

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dmourati
Can someone please change it's to its in the title?

~~~
dang
Yup.

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nixie
*its

