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Probably has something to do with politicians being the best of the worst, who don't understand research or statistics
by _Schizotypy 8y ago
Probably has something to do with politicians being the best of the worst, who don't understand research or statistics
- lotsofpulp 8y agoAnd voters not voting in their long term interest (including not voting at all). A politician promising tax cuts and jobs now at the expense of the future is going to get elected versus a a politician that wants to invest now for the future. See state of American infrastructure for an example.
- rayiner 8y agoDo we underinvest in infrastructure? For example, NYC spends much more money per passenger and per route mile than London to run a similar subway system, but it’s still crumbling. Maybe our problem is not funding but some cultural flaw that prevents us from using infrastructure money efficiently.
- likpok 8y agoI wonder how much of this can be explained by wealth. The US has more expensive labor than the rest of the world (by a surprising margin), which makes everything in the supply chain more expensive. Infrastructure is pretty labor intensive in and of itself (and skilled labor at that -- of which there are shortages), and the materials that it requires are also relatively labor and energy intensive. We would then expect to spend much more per passenger and route-mile than other places just to break even. But politically this is maybe a harder sell -- it's easy to criticize giving the MTA an extra billion when it buys so much less (even before corruption &c).
- _Schizotypy 8y agoWe should look at the system of bidding for contracts. Contractors undercutting each other providing each shittier service than the next to provide service at the lowest possible rate while still making a profit.