RSSA new book by US domestic policy expert James P Pinkerton reveals that investing in transportation infrastructure will build America’s economic strength. In A Vision of American Strength: How Transportation Infrastructure Built the United States, Pinkerton observes that “the history of civilisation is the history of infrastructure.”
He explains how societies have flourished as they developed better roads and other transportation systems. Pinkerton details how transport infrastructure fuelled the growth of “American Strength” through the 19th and 20th centuries, in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Most notably, Dwight Eisenhower developed the Interstate Highway System.
Yet bipartisan support for infrastructure investment began to fracture in the 1970s, Pinkerton writes. On the left, the environmental movement got the better of pro-growth Democrats. On the right, libertarian ideologues convinced Republicans to starve government and turn public works into private projects.
Ironically, it was conservative Ronald Reagan who made the last infrastructure investment when he supported an increase in the federal fuel tax to finance new transportation improvements. “America can’t afford throwaway roads or disposable transit systems,” Reagan said in a 1982 radio address. But this infrastructure revival was short-lived, Pinkerton laments. Federal spending on transportation infrastructure relative to GDP has been cut significantly since the early 1960s. Today, all Americans see the results from years of chronic under-investment: deteriorating roads, bridges and transit systems, and increased traffic congestion.
Pinkerton argues that “a new and comprehensive infrastructure vision is needed now, more than ever.” This key to economic prosperity and American Strength should not be politically controversial. “There is more common ground between the parties on transportation infrastructure than on most other domestic or foreign issues,” he writes. Boosting investments in transportation infrastructure and developing new “Critical Commerce Corridors” to move goods are potential solutions for rebuilding America.
A Vision of American Strength: How Transportation Infrastructure Built the United States is a project of the920 American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) Transportation Makes America Work programme, which is aimed at building public and political support for increased surface transportation investment.
He explains how societies have flourished as they developed better roads and other transportation systems. Pinkerton details how transport infrastructure fuelled the growth of “American Strength” through the 19th and 20th centuries, in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Most notably, Dwight Eisenhower developed the Interstate Highway System.
Yet bipartisan support for infrastructure investment began to fracture in the 1970s, Pinkerton writes. On the left, the environmental movement got the better of pro-growth Democrats. On the right, libertarian ideologues convinced Republicans to starve government and turn public works into private projects.
Ironically, it was conservative Ronald Reagan who made the last infrastructure investment when he supported an increase in the federal fuel tax to finance new transportation improvements. “America can’t afford throwaway roads or disposable transit systems,” Reagan said in a 1982 radio address. But this infrastructure revival was short-lived, Pinkerton laments. Federal spending on transportation infrastructure relative to GDP has been cut significantly since the early 1960s. Today, all Americans see the results from years of chronic under-investment: deteriorating roads, bridges and transit systems, and increased traffic congestion.
Pinkerton argues that “a new and comprehensive infrastructure vision is needed now, more than ever.” This key to economic prosperity and American Strength should not be politically controversial. “There is more common ground between the parties on transportation infrastructure than on most other domestic or foreign issues,” he writes. Boosting investments in transportation infrastructure and developing new “Critical Commerce Corridors” to move goods are potential solutions for rebuilding America.
A Vision of American Strength: How Transportation Infrastructure Built the United States is a project of the
