China's infrastructure programs

China's infrastructure programs give a whole new meaning to "bailout" and "shovel ready."

In 2007, the U.S. lost its seat to the European Union as the world's largest economy. The EU's economy produced $14.4 trillion in goods and services, while U.S. GDP came in at $13.86 trillion. However, the U.S. still has the largest economy of any single country. The next largest is China, at $7 trillion.

Economists tell us that China should overtake the U.S. by 2025 to be the world’s largest economy and is anticipated to grow to about 130% the size of the U.S. by 2050.

In late 2008, China started to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects, fearing that widespread joblessness could lead to social unrest.

Their stimulus plan, one of the world’s largest, promises to take China a great leap forward and brings the countryside to the same level as their modern coastal cities, priming China for a new level of global competition.

That same leap took the United States decades — and a world war — to build.

China is furiously pouring concrete and laying high-speed passenger, intercity and freight rail lines. Extra spending is being planned in practically every town, city and county across the country urging local and provincial governments to proceed with their projects because they are, in current U.S. lingo, “shovel ready.”

The combined national, provincial and local spending for economic stimulus promises to change the face of China, giving the country a world-class infrastructure for moving goods and people quickly, cheaply and reliably across great distances. Aside from transportation, most of the rest of China’s national stimulus program will be spent on airports, highways and environmental projects, particularly water treatment plants.

Conversely, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 is allocating less than 5% of spending for the construction of highways, rail lines and mass transit programs. This was to be the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jump-start our economy, and begin the process of transforming the U.S. for the 21st century.

To truly bring about economic stimulus, we must spend our monies wisely on infrastructure projects that keep us moving forward, not straggling behind and playing catch-up.

Read the full text of the January 23rd New York Times article, “China's Route Forward.”

2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure

In a report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation’s infrastructure gets an overall D grade and estimated that it would take a $2.2 trillion investment from all levels of government over the next five years to bring it into a state of good repair.

More than a quarter of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Leaky pipes lose an estimated seven billion gallons of clean drinking water daily. And, aging sewage systems send billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the nation’s waterways annually.

“Crumbling infrastructure has a direct impact on our personal and economic health, and the nation’s infrastructure crisis is endangering our future prosperity,” the president of the society, D. Wayne Klotz, said in a statement published by the New York Times. “Our leaders are looking for solutions to the nation’s current economic crisis. Not only could investment in these critical foundations have a positive impact, but if done responsibly, it would also provide tangible benefits to the American people, such as reduced traffic congestion, improved air quality, clean and abundant water supplies and protection against natural hazards.”

The society gave the nation’s roads a D-minus, noting Americans spend an estimated 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic and that 45% of major urban highways are congested. Transit and aviation also received D grades. The society noted: mass transit use increased 25% from 1995 to 2005, yet nearly 1/2 of American households still lack access to bus or rail transit. And, increasing delays faced by airline passengers highlight the need to modernize the outdated air traffic control system.

Get the complete Report Card.