"Obama to propose 'grand bargain' on corporate tax rate, infrastructure"

Reuters headline.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski: "It's not politics, it's physics."

US Senator Barbara Mikulski speaks out on infrastructure:

“Steel rusts. Asphalt wears out. Buildings need to be repaired and maintained. It is not politics. It’s physics. We have to make investments today so that our nation can grow." 

She continued: 

"This isn't a bill where jobs will be on a slow boat to China or a fast track to Mexico. It puts America on the right track to meet these needs in transportation.  

"There's a very good reason that we need this bill. The American Civil Engineers Society says the need for physical infrastructure for our country is piling up. Steel rusts. Asphalt wears out. Buildings need to be repaired and maintained.  

"It is not politics. It's physics. We have to make investments today so that our nation can grow. 

"We still have an unemployment rate of over seven percent, so how do we get America moving? Public investments that create private-sector jobs. That's what we like about transportation.  

"This bill, under the leadership of Senators Murray and Collins, includes funds for the Federal Aviation Administration for airports. It includes the Federal Highway Administration to build and repair roads. It includes Amtrak and also the National Transportation Safety Board – when there is an accident, they are on the job finding out what the problems are. This bill keeps America moving on land, sea and in the air. But most of all, it's about the bread and butter issues. It meets real needs in real time, building roads and building communities.  

"Let's cooperate for better, more effective infrastructure"

Sheila Bair’s visionary ideas on infrastructure, published in Fortune, continue to reverberate. 

Writing for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Neil Grigg, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University, takes note of Bair's idea and adds his own suggestions on moving forward on infrastructure. 

He starts with an assessment of the situation in his home state:

Here in Colorado, there is a lot to celebrate. In Fort Collins, our Master Transportation Plan outlines a multi-modal approach for vehicles, bikes, pedestrians and mass transit. Statewide, CDOT works with the regional planning organizations to create shared plans. A lot is happening to improve roads and bridges across the state.

Will our present trajectory get us where we need to go? Which investments would be strategic for Colorado? High-speed rail? A solution to the I-70 corridor? More mass transit? China confronts issues like these at the national level and acts quicker than we do. Our system demands participation, intergovernmental cooperation, good staff work, public-private involvement and a lot of patience.

Grigg's points on cooperation and participation are well taken.  Indeed, they echo the arguments made by MIT historian Thomas Hughes, in his 2002 book, Rescuing Prometheus.  Hughes cited four megaprojects  in the 20th century US, including the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel project, aka, The Big Dig.   That project, in particular, Hughes wrote, depended on public buy-in.  There's simply no other way to get anything done in this hyper-pluralistic environment.  

Returning to the present day in Colorado, Grigg continues: 

Looking ahead, we must take matters in our own hands with cooperative but visionary statewide plans. It is not about “keep on doing what you are doing.” It is about a future where infrastructure fuels the economy and job creation. Why not an infrastructure grade based on mobility, support for the economy and jobs, enhanced quality of life and environmental protection? Grades could also be assigned for intergovernmental and public-private cooperation.

We need to keep the conversation going and find strategies to move the state ahead. Let’s prove that our system works. It will require action under the dome but also in courthouses, city halls, school rooms and chambers of commerce around the state.

The Growth Message is a Winner

An "Anglo" Republican defeated an Hispanic Democrat in an overwhelmingly Hispanic and Democratic California state senate district.   How did that happen, just as the experts all seemingly agreed that The Golden State was really the Blue State?

The big issue was jobs for the 16th district, located in the Central Valley of California.  The GOPer, one Andy Vidak, had a better pro-jobs message; that message obviously transcended ethnicity, partisanship, and the Democrat's huge money advantage.

As Los Angeles-based public intellectual Gregory Rodriguez has argued for years, Hispanics of today are best compared to the American "ethnics"--mostly Central and European--of a century ago.  That is, work- and family-oriented, socially conservative, but also economically liberal--liberal in the old sense, the New Deal sense.

So the winning message for them would be jobs and wages.    And that's the message that Republican Vidak, not the Democrat Perez, was most effective at delivering.

As I have argued in the past, the GOP--or, for that matter, Democrats of an older stripe--could do much more with that pro-growth/anti-Malthusian message if they wanted to.

Sheila Bair: "A bold plan for rebuilding our roads and bridges"

Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC, writing in Fortune magazine.

She outlines several different possible financing mechanisms:

With government borrowing rates low (courtesy of the Fed) and so many construction workers eager for work, you would think that the federal government would launch major infrastructure programs. Unfortunately, the Fed’s cheap money has been squandered mostly on sugar-high stimulus and paper profits in the stock and bond markets — ephemeral benefits that are fading fast. In contrast, infrastructure programs would have lasting and much-needed benefits for this and future generations. Yet Washington’s bigwigs are providing little leadership on the issue, and they are missing the boat, as government borrowing costs will continue to go up.

Many in the GOP seem to think the government spends too much already and is too incompetent to run major infrastructure programs. But lots of sensible people, including those at the New America Foundation, a leading centrist think tank, have proposed the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, which would support only projects that were approved by a team of engineers and that could be paid for over time with user fees or dedicated revenues like energy taxes.

China plans world's longest sea tunnel at $42 billion

Reuters has the details. 

Thomas Jefferson, Apostle of Minimal Government. President Jefferson, Apostle of American Strength.

Thomas Jefferson is often regarded as the apostle of small-government libertarianism.  Indeed, the Sage of Monticello was a lifelong champion of free speech and religious liberty.  And for most of his career, he was also a champion of small government.

Yet as the third president of the United States, Jefferson underwent something of a conversion. Curiously, this conversion is not always noted by some of his self-proclaimed acolytes who prefer the earlier Jefferson to the later Jefferson.*

Still, Jefferson was undeniably a small-government partisan for the bulk of his life.  As he declared in first inaugural address in 1801, the national goal should be:

"A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned."

In other words, a "nightwatchman state."  That's what many today assert that Jefferson was calling for. And for most of his life, perhaps he was.

Yet Jefferson clearly changed during the course of his presidency, from 1801 to 1809.   The experience of dealing with the great powers of Europe, before and during his time in the White House--as well as the four-year war against the Barbary Pirates--taught him that America, as a nation, needed to be politically and militarily strong.  Moral suasion and high-minded non-intervention were not going to be adequate in the face of ruthless enemies.

So Jefferson established the US Military Academy at West Point in 1802.

That same year, France seized control of Spain's Louisiana Territories--roughly half of the future continental United States.  Jefferson could see what a big deal this was, writing to a friend,

"This little event, of France's possessing herself of Louisiana, is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both sides of the Atlantic and involve in it's effects their highest destinies."

In other words, Jefferson the geopolitician could see a huge national security threat looming on America's western frontier.  I response, he undertook the Louisiana Purchase the following year, firmly establishing the the USA as the dominant geopolitical power in North America.

In other words, the imperatives of statecraft were changing Jefferson.  He was becoming an apostle of American Strength.

In his eighth message to Congress, delivered on November 8, 1808, Jefferson went further:  He supported the system of publicly-owned peace-time military arsenals, to be supplemented--but not replaced--during wartime by private contractors:

"Under the acts of March 11th and April 23d, respecting arms, the difficulty of procuring them from abroad, during the present situation and dispositions of Europe, induced us to direct our whole efforts to the means of internal supply. The public factories have, therefore, been enlarged, additional machineries erected, and in proportion as artificers can be found or formed, their effect, already more than doubled, may be increased so as to keep pace with the yearly increase of the militia. The annual sums appropriated by the latter act, have been directed to the encouragement of private factories of arms, and contracts have been entered into with individual undertakers to nearly the amount of the first year's appropriation."

Jefferson went further: He sought out "internal improvements"--what we today call infrastructure-- within the US.  As he said, we had no choice: 

"The situation into which we have thus been forced, has impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to internal manufactures and improvements. The extent of this conversion is daily increasing, and little doubt remains that the establishments formed and forming will -- under the auspices of cheaper materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation with us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions -- become permanent."

Finally, he made clear his preference for using surplus federal revenues, not for tax cuts, but for public investments in, as he delineated, “roads, canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations of prosperity and union”:

"The probable accumulation of the surpluses of revenue beyond what can be applied to the payment of the public debt, whenever the freedom and safety of our commerce shall be restored, merits the consideration of Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the public vaults? Shall the revenue be reduced? Or shall it rather be appropriated to the improvements of roads, canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations of prosperity and union, under the powers which Congress may already possess, or such amendment of the constitution as may be approved by the States?"

A strong military, a strong country.  That's American Strength.

Michael Lind of the New America Foundation offers a more cogent and detailed chronicle of Jefferson's presidency in his 2012 book, Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States.

* Those who speak with the authority of the historical past have a huge advantage in contemporary debates.  And we might note that those who would seek to invoke history have not always been scrupulous as to their historical invocations.

We might recall a quote from the French essayist Michel de Montaigne, who back in the 16th century observed that the "learned authors" of his time chose to refer to such authoritative texts as Plato's dialogues, using them as nothing more than rhetorical throw-weight for their own views. Quoth Montaigne: "See how Plato is tossed and turned about. All are honored to have his support, so they couch him on their own side. They trot him out and slip him into any new opinion which fashion will accept. When matters take a different turn, then they make him disagree with himself."  Plato was not the first, nor was Jefferson the last, to receive such historical revisionism.  

Indeed, in their enthusiasm for making Jefferson seem more to their liking, scholars and pundits have even sought to "improve" on the man--or their ideal of the man.  A quote commonly attributed to Jefferson--"That government is best that governs least"--appears not to be from Jefferson at all, but rather, from Henry David Thoreau.

New York City Infrastructure

Washington Post headline: "New York aims to fortify itself against next big storm, climate change."

Infrastructure and the Fate of Nations

The New York Times reports on "the New Silk Road"--that is, the railroad line connecting Europe to China.   As the Times puts it, the Silk Road, which was eclipsed by ocean-going cargo ships, is now being brought back: "Now, Hewlett-Packard has revived the route as a faster, overland alternative to shipping electronics from China to European markets by sea."

Anything that strengthens the hand of the Russians is of interest to the US, of course.  And yet the revival the Silk Road is a reminder that  a single piece of infrastructure can upset existing trade relations--and the fate of nations.

See: Canal, Erie, Railroad, Transcontinental, Canal, Panama, and Highways, Interstate.

"The 10 Best Airports That Put America to Shame"

The Business Insider has pictures of all of them.   Meanwhile, we can ask: Why don't we have these?

This is the Changi Airport in Singapore.

And here's another look:

We could have this here in America, too, if we wanted it. 

Herb London reviews Rich Lowry's Important Lincoln Book in The Weekly Standard

From Herb London's Weekly Standard review of Rich Lowry's new book on Abraham Lincoln: 

Historical bodysnatchers like Mario Cuomo have converted Lincoln into a Big Government redistributionist. But this is far from the real Lincoln. He was a Whig who believed there was a place for government in mobilizing national energies to inspire prosperity. He admired Henry Clay, who championed the “American system”—banks, tariffs, and infrastructure—in order to protect infant industries, provide sound credit for investors, and energize the potential strength of the economy.

Note the "I" word: Infrastructure.

And the subhed of the review makes an important point: "A voice from the past articulates the future." That's a reminder: All political struggles take place in three time-phases: Past, Present, and Future. Lowry's book illuminates a vital but neglected aspect of our economic and political past, and hopefully, learning from that past will guide us to better policies in the present, and a better life in the future. 

Seattle's Emerging Bicycle Infrastructure

The Seattle Times' Alexa Vaughn reports on the efforts of Seattleites to build bicycle buffers on the city's roads.  In some cases, pro-bike activists have even taken matters into their own hands--they have simply built buffers--flexible plastic pylons, pictured above--on their own.  The city was going to take them down, but then, happily, thought better of it.

And so the barriers remain, keeping motorists and bicyclists safely separate.

America needs lots more of that kind of positive new infrastructure.   And the broadest possible constituency for making all modes of travel as safe and efficient and sustainable as possible.  

"The Metropolitan Revolution" and Infrastructure

The New York Times' Kirk Johnson reports on the efforts of Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA to push forward on the Columbia River Crossing, a new bridge project connecting the two cities.    The mayors of the respective cities stepped in after Washington State backed out.

The Times article also highlights a new book chronicling these efforts, The Metropolitan Revolution, by Brookings scholars Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley.

Obviously there is no one answer to the challenge of building and rebuilding America's infrastructure. Hopefully, there will be many answers.

Financial Times' Ed Luce, Keeping Things in Perspective

Writing in The Financial Times:

But with the exception of America’s richest 1 per cent, no other income group rates the US budget deficit among the country’s biggest threats, according to polls. The remainder rank unemployment and stagnant incomes as bigger problems. To be fair to the 99 per cent, their concerns look more real. Can it really make sense to worry more about possible cuts 20 years away than actual pain today?

So yes, the real issue, for the 99 percent, is jobs and growth. 

Michael Porter of Harvard Business School on Infrastructure

"This is not a business cycle.  This is structural, long-term decline."  Those were the scary words from the Harvard Business School's Michael E. Porter, testifying on Capitol Hill. 

As USA Today's Paul Davidson reported, Porter was concerned that "recent deficit-cutting, for instance, has discouraged more infrastructure investment."

Journalist Davidson added, 

But Porter said there's consensus among lawmakers on most of his proposals. A bill by Rep. John Delaney, D-Md. ,would provide loans or guarantees to state or local governments to finance certain infrastructure projects. The loans would be funded by $50 billion in bonds, which U.S. firms would be prodded to purchase by allowing them, in turn, to repatriate a certain amount of overseas earnings tax-free. The measure has 18 Democratic and 18 Republican co-sponsors.

Such bond-financing is an interesting idea.  Indeed, there are lots of interesting ideas for resuscitating the infrastructure sector floating around--we should try some.

Because what's important to understand are the stakes as Porter sees them: "This is not a business cycle. This is structural, long-term decline."

We might make one last point: Porter is a well-known figure in business circles, focusing on how the US can be more internationally competitive.  But as such, he is generally relegated to the side when it comes to discussion of US national economics--even though Porter has a BA from Princeton and an MBA and Ph D from Harvard.  In other words, "competitiveness" is seen as somehow different from "economics." 

Indeed, he is dubbed here, like almost always, as a "competitiveness  expert."  Note to DC, and to America: Experts who actually know how things work--how economies grow, how jobs are created--are, in fact, way more valuable than ideologues and theoreticians. 

"The infrastructure stuff is brilliant." Bill Keller's New York Times Column on Michael Bloomberg's Legacy

Bill Keller, the former executive editor of The New York Times, and now a columnist for the paper, offers a compelling assessment of Michael Bloomberg's legacy as mayor of New York City.  Here's a part: 

After last year’s superstorm, he commissioned an impressive blueprint for a more resilient city and has begun by rezoning vulnerable areas. “His response to Sandy at the human level was appalling,” said Joan Byron, an urban planner who is director of policy at the Pratt Center for Community Development. “But the infrastructure stuff is brilliant.”

Words to ponder: "the infrastructure stuff is brilliant."   Take a closer look, here.

Interestingly, Keller concludes:

But Bloomberg leaves behind a great 21st-century city, a dauntingly high bar for his successor and a pretty good argument for noblesse oblige.

One Possible New Kind of Next-Gen Infrastructure--and Implications for American Strength

Seen on Barry Ritholtz's site--you can learn a lot by clicking around!--a magnetic levitation superconductor track, built, for fun, as a Mobius Strip.  That's a little car in front of the man; the car is zipping along a quarter-inch or so above the mag-lev.  But the car can also go below the track--the same field holds it up against gravity.  Pret-ty cool.

We can look at this and see whole new kinds of roadways, cheaper, faster, more energy efficient--all around better.

We might note that a key component of this track is yttrium barium copper oxide.  Yttrium, of course, is one of those rare earth elements that are essential to much of our modern economy.  We won't have American Strength unless we have secure sources of these materials.  

Skagit Bridge Collapse--Never Again!

Financial pundit Barry Ritholtz tweets out photos from the May 23 Skagit Bridge collapse on I-5 in Washington State.  We really shouldn't be allowing this to happen in our country.

Floating Nuclear Power Plants = Instant Desalination

Nuclear power is controversial, that's for sure, and the Russians don't have the best safety record--that's really for sure.  

However, nuclear power is likely to remain a part of our energy portfolio for a long time to come. Between the controversies associated with fossil fuels and the expectations-dashing disappointments associated with green energy, nuclear power stares at us--an obvious source of enormous energy. 

One additional benefit of nuclear power is that it's relative mobile.  Indeed, the US Navy has been operating nuclear reactors on submarines since the launching of the USS Nautilus in 1955; and the Navy has an unblemished nuclear safety record. 

So this article, by Gizmodo's Andrew Liszewski, does not fill me with enthusiasm for Russian floating nuclear power plants--it fills me with enthusiasm for American floating nuclear power plants, especially those that might be operated by the US Navy.

As Liszewski observes, water-borne power plants could move to wherever energy was needed, from disaster locations to offshore drilling sites.  In addition, he notes, such plants "can be easily modified to serve as floating desalination plants, producing 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water every day."

And that would be very cool, because desalination is one of those looming issues that we are going to have to confront.  For reasons of--your choice--global warming, simple population growth, or natural cycles, much of the world--including big patches of the US--face desertification.  And so let's do something about it, as I suggested here, last year, in the pages of The American Conservative.  

These floating power plants could help, although, of course, there are lots of ways to desalinate water. 

American Strength at the FDR Library

A visit to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY, is rich with interesting exhibits and also more than a few surprises.   Above, we see a picture taken of bomber noses at a war plant; those are women workers working on the assemblies.

Here's another picture from the exhibit, advancing a similar theme--the wartime economy.

Okay, so those pictures are predictable enough--that's what America looked like on the homefront in World War Two.

But here's a picture that might be a little surprising--maybe even startling to contemporary audiences.

The image here shows a three-way handshake: A blue-collar hand (left, sorry the pic isn't so good, but the hand is in a heavy worker's glove) a white-collar hand (right), and Uncle Sam's hand (top).  

The caption underneath reads, "Together We Win: Get behind your labor-management committee."   In other words, for the purposes of the war, it was vital that workers and owners got together--and Uncle Sam was there to make sure that they did if they didn't.