Power And Dollar

The bridges are falling down.  Who is to fix them?  Will Obama take Keyne’s prescription and spend money on infrastructure?  How much will it cost?  Is there a cost-benefit analysis?  What about prioritizing which road/bridge to fix first?  Isn’t that another pork barrel all over again?  After all, it is about value produced by dollar spent.  It may be difficult to measure what value that is especially if America wants to spend public money to pull aggregate demand.  How will this reflect on Obama’s no gas tax relief position?  

An infrastructure repair program on every federal road/bridge will almost contradict on Obama’s energy policy position, i.e. to minimize gasoline consumption.  Having more roads is to encourage more driving, not only symbolically but also financially for the drivers.  By supporting fewer roads and bridges will not only off load some of the expenses from the federal balance sheet, but also encourage more job sites to congregate, thus increasing population density.  Higher population translates into few roads for a bigger population, i.e. servicing the same amount of people with a smaller budget.  

Transportation Secretary says $20B is required annually for 20 years.  Obama promises a one time deal of $25B.  So, is this a 15 month fix?

Of course, it is inconvenient for pork barreling.  Will Obama want to attract more Chamber-Of-Commerce kind of Republicans?  Or will Obama want to attract more rural voters?  More construction jobs and concrete all over the country?  Or move the jobs to population centers?

Check who donates to Obama and you will get a better clue.  Find donors by employers.  And these are the names you want:  NYSE:GVA, NYSE: URS.

Not that I am ignoring McCain.  It’s just this election is becoming an election between Obama and Anti-Obama.