A contributing cause is the sheer amount of infrastructure in North America. Since the advent of suburban settlements, the amount of infrastructure has been gro

A contributing cause is the sheer amount of infrastructure in North America. Since the advent of suburban settlements, the amount of infrastructure has been growing at an unprecedented rate. One day all of it will reach end-of-life. The local governments haven't maintained it. They haven't been saving up to replace it. When it becomes an emergency, all of them will turn to their national government for help. This is partly human nature. Short-term gains overshadow the distant consequences. I am confident that in 60-100 years China will have an even larger infrastructure crisis.