And there are still some people who say the stimulus didn’t work…
I keep saying it: Infrastructure spending= more jobs= more tax revenue= more spending and product demands
Despite evidence showing that spending on public transportation and road and bridge repairs produces far more jobs and does so faster than new construction, most states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations “squandered” their federal stimulus money in this regard. Overall, according to a report from Smart Growth America, they spent 1.7 percent of the $26.6 billion they received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed two years ago on public transportation, where expenditures generate the most jobs. At the same time, they spent 33.5 percent on new construction, which produces the least number of jobs.
SGA found that every $1 billion spent on highway projects yielded 2.4 million job hours; every $1 billion spent on public transportation projects yielded 4.2 million job hours.
Specifically, the report states, public transportation and bridge and road repairs created 31 percent more jobs per dollar than new construction of roads and bridges, while repair work on roads and bridges generated 16 percent more per dollar than new construction. Fixing existing infrastructure generates a higher investment return than new construction because it “prevents the need for reconstruction later, which costs 4 to 14 times as much … [and] keeps existing communities vibrant. Neglecting existing places whil building new infrastructure drives growth out and means the public ends up buying two of everything.” One reason that new construction generates fewer jobs per dollar is that so much of such dollars are spent on acquiring real estate, which produces no jobs.
Lost in the 21st Century 