Tag Archives: stimulus

Cities getting less than a fair share of transportation stimulus

Posted on by
Reply

Measured both in terms of population and share of GDP, cities are getting a lower share of transportation stimulus dollars, according to a new analysis by the New York Times.  Blame provincialism.

“If we’re trying to recover the nation’s economy, we should be focusing where the economy is, which is in these large areas,” said Robert Puentes, a senior fellow at theBrookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, which advocates more targeted spending. “But states take this peanut-butter approach, taking the dollars and spreading them around very thinly, rather than taking the dollars and concentrating them where the most complex transportation problems are.”

Being the New York Times, they also have a great graphic to go along with the story.

Midwest HSR/Stimulus run-down

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been collecting articles since mid-February, so this post is way overdue.

Remember when Congress approved $680 million a year for high speed rail projects?  Well that’s peanuts now, with the stimulus bringing in $8 billion.  Back then, Oberstar said Chicago to the Twin Cities could happen in 5 years.

As usual, NYT has the best rundown of the details.  Autopia also has a little more analysis.  The Boston Globe talks to some people who say that HSR will be tough to get started in the US because of our old friends low gas prices (love of foreign oil?) and low population density (also wide open spaces and a lack of historic government support).  Governor Jim Doyle went to Spain, rode their ultra-fast trains and declared a Chicago-Minnesota route possible “within 5 to 10 years“.  Finally, feeling left out, the Hennepin County Board last week approved a resolution asking that proposals be developed to include Minneapolis in high-speed plans (current plans have the line ending at Saint Paul’s soon-to-be-renovated Union Depot).

If $680 million = Chicago-TC HSR route in 5 years, shouldn’t $8 billion = Chicago-TC route in 5 months?

America is stimulated! Minnesota could get $9.1 billion? *updated*

Posted on by
Reply

The Strib reports that Minnesota could get $91 $9.1 billion of the $787 billion stimulus bill signed by President Obama today.  The Business Journal says we’ll get the 19th most jobs among the 50 states, with 66,000 new ones coming our way.  Wisconsin keeps Paul Bunyan’s axe with 70,000 jobs.

I know some people that could use a job, or get back 20% of their current job right now.  Let’s get this thing going.

David Brooks calls for major infrastructure initiative (may be a socialist sympathizer)

Posted on by
Reply

Seriously though, it seems a lot of smart people out there are calling for the next stimulus to be about reinvestment in public goods. Others disagree.  Perhaps we need reinvestment in infrastructure just to remain competitive globally.

A major infrastructure initiative would create jobs for the less-educated workers who have been hit hardest by the transition to an information economy. It would allow the U.S. to return to the fundamentals. There is a real danger that the U.S. is going to leap from one over-consuming era to another, from one finance-led bubble to another. Focusing on infrastructure would at least get us thinking about the real economy, asking hard questions about what will increase real productivity, helping people who are expanding companies rather than hedge funds.

David Brooks: A National Mobility Project