Of The Decline of America's Infrastructure

                    America's infrastructure is being allowed to decay.  Over the last six years America's infrastructure has consistently received a D from The American Society of Civil Engineers.  Several major bridges have collapsed and many others are at risk of falling apart.  Even major railroad bridges are being allowed to collapse.  In most rural areas internet is slow and our electrical grid is several decades old.  Also, California is lacking the water necessary to sustain its massive population.  Perhaps, water will have to be pipe lined from the lower part of the Mississippi River to California.  Localities are banned from installing their own fiber optics to get internet connection.  In some northern European countries localities have done this successfully and dramatically increased the speed of the internet and reduced costs.  Several damns and levees are about to collapse.
              Many sewer systems are over a century old.  Also, traffic jams on major highway interchanges is the norm.  Spending on America's infrastructure is at the lowest level in more than half a century.  This trend will cause America be less competitive in the global economy and compromise national security.  Also, hundreds of billions of dollars of potential productivity could be lost.  Productivity is being lost due to slower travel and less construction on infrastructure going on.  Jobs would be created in order to do the work required to upgrade infrastructure.
                Infrastructure is relied upon by ordinary people, businesses, and the government.  Also, it is the life blood of the economy.  Part of the reason that infrastructure is being allowed to decline is to limit our ability to travel.  In the Roman Empire the government built many roads, bridges, and aqueducts.  Then the government allowed its infrastructure to decline in order to limit the civilian population's ability to travel.  I suspect that part of the reason that infrastructure is being allowed to decline is that eventually goods will be transported via large space ships or air ships.  These vehicles would have to move at tremendous speed and have an extremely large carrying capacity.  
               Upgrading and expanding infrastructure could be funded by state and local governments.  Also, it could be funded by an infrastructure bank.  An infrastructure is a financial institution typically owned by the government.  The infrastructure would get a certain amount of money deposited in it.  Then when a certain group wants funding for an infrastructure project the bank would fund it.  Then the bank would get repaid by toll and any increases in tax revenue resulting from increased economic activity resulting from the project.  The toll would go away as soon as the bank is repaid.  Typically, when an infrastructure project is completed the local economy improves as a result of increased efficiency.  This usually leads to an increase in tax revenue.  I will explain infrastructure banks in grater detail in later blogs.    
           

    Refernces

"America's Infrastructure Is Slowly Falling Apart"

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8gdpkg/america-is-collapsing-a-brief-look-at-the-us-infrastructure-meltdown-130