Decaying Infrastructure

;    STATUS OF US INFRASTRUCTURE

All things being equal, it would be better for the country to have less debt. Nobody seriously disputes this, but the fact is that all things are not now, and are never really, equal. Today there is a strong argument that it is a wise time to make a strategic investment in U.S. infrastructure.

The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2013-2014 ranked the United States a respectable No. 5 in term of overall competitiveness. But our prospects for the future are clouded by an infrastructure ranking that barely cracks the top 20. Since this report our infrastructure has declined another 10% we must act now or its state of repair will be disastrous.

On multiple ratings, the U.S. came out on top in exactly one category: the availability of airline travel. Other than that, rankings on the quality of roads (18th), rail (17th), ports (16th) and other measures show it trailing many of its international competitors.

Earlier this year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued its annual infrastructure report card, and awarded the U.S. a D+ for infrastructure. You can discount the ASCE's findings as you please, considering the fact that civil engineers, as a whole, benefit from increased infrastructure spending, but the numbers are hard to argue with.

A few highlights from the report:

•One in four bridges in the U.S. today are either structurally deficient, meaning that their condition has deteriorated to the point that they require annual safety inspections to remain open, or functionally obsolete, which means that they were built to such a low standard that they would be illegal to build today.

•"Almost half of America's public school buildings were built to educate the baby boomers – a generation that is now retiring from the workforce," the report found. Meanwhile, annual spending on school construction fell to $10 billion in 2012, down 50 percent from pre-recession levels.

•Congestion alone on U.S. highways costs the economy $101 billion in fuel and lost productivity every year. 

This might be excusable if we were taking the necessary steps to upgrade our existing infrastructure, but we're not, and that's a real problem. These issues are not theoretical or contingent. They are real, their progression is certain, and we know we are going to have to spend money to fix them. Waiting for an emergency will be expensive – both in terms of money spent and productivity lost.

Right now, the Treasury Department can issue 30-year debt for less than 4 percent interest. But last month, Federal Reserve Chairman signaled that economic improvement, slow though it may be, means low rates won't last forever.  Again, all things being equal, less debt would be better. But things aren't equal, and our infrastructure is crumbling, which affects competitiveness, production and GDP.