Labor finds a thoughtful leader in UAW's Bob King.I sat down in his shade with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
—Song of Solomon
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Bob King, president of the United Auto Workers does a very nice job arguing for investment in infrastructure in a manner that reveals awareness of the priceless, intangible benefits such investment offers...
Who can argue with his desire that we focus our attention now on taking care of people — putting people back to work through FDR-style public works projects aimed at revitalizing the nation's infrastructure?
Now, about Mark Zandi's call for a National Infrastructure Bank configured to facilitate public-private partnerships... Who needs Mussolini-style fascism? After all, the aggregate, private-sector financial industry already has shown itself lousy allocators of capital, so the argument about their being more "efficient" than a Treasury-run National Bank simply does not fly. Besides why should infrastructure investment serving the posterity of the national economy be financed in a manner effectively subsidizing a financial industry that, over the past several decades has had every opportunity to wisely invest in infrastructure, but was nowhere to be found when it came to such capital-intensive projects? There certainly was no shortage of capital! Yet this was recklessly chasing short-term, speculative opportunity, shunning long-term capital investment.
A National Infrastructure Bank would be better configured as the centerpiece of a Hamiltonian credit system, uttering credit at rates of interest no greater than 2%. That's how to get the greatest bang for the buck with sound investment in infrastructure.
—Tom Chechatka
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