Are we spending too much or too little on infrastructure?

American infrastructure has improved since the 80s. But it still may be inadequate.

City workers
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Infrastructure — roads, bridges, rail, airports, seaports, waste management, dams, water treatment, electrical grids, the internet, etc — is the backbone of the modern economy, the base upon which the rest of industry sits. When infrastructure works, businesses, individuals and societies can go about their business — travel, shop, ship goods to customers, drink clean water, easily dispose of waste, access information through the internet, etc. When infrastructure fails or doesn't exist, businesses, individuals, and societies face huge problems.

In the U.S., public construction spending (i.e., infrastructure spending) as a proportion of GDP has recently fallen to a low:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

John Aziz is the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate editor at Pieria.co.uk. Previously his work has appeared on Business Insider, Zero Hedge, and Noahpinion.