Evan Soltas pens a contrarian take on the state of America's infrastructure, equating those who repeatedly warn of crumbling roads and bridges to a bunch of "Chicken Littles."
"Maybe it's going too far to say, 'The U.S. is doing just fine, thank you very much,'" concedes Soltas. "The nation would benefit from reordering its infrastructure priorities -- away from new highways, for example, where we are already overbuilt and usage is falling for the first extended period on record. And we'd do well to take advantage of low interest rates and idle construction resources to knock out all of our future infrastructure needs."
"But the idea that the U.S. has an infrastructure crisis? No. A broad, permanent increase in spending is unwarranted."
Soltas notes that America's infrastructure spending is on par with other developed nations, and has remained at consistent levels for many decades. Plus, he adds, the state of our roads and bridges has actually improved over the last two decades, while urban interstate congestion is decreasing.
Thanks to Daniel Lippman
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