How would infrastructure spending benefit the working class?

[OddTrader]

imo, I think a term like infrastructure spending is a good example that has been outdated and misleading for long time to the public/people - general voters. And that is exactly why we really need to develop an updated course for every individual voters.

Mainly due to a government cannot produce/have any profit (or loss) for its operations, the operating performance is called income and expenditure statement, instead of a profit and loss statement.

There are hence so many unresolved problematic issues for the government operations and performance.

1. They spend all the available money available for them to spend, as long as they have the money approved by last year's budget statement. They don't want to keep any savings at all, in order to maintain a balance budget. LOL

If they are showed with any unspent huge money left, they are evaluated under-performed. Their budget last round/year was overestimated - incapability. Their future budge for next round/year will be naturally cut, causing they not having enough money for many things planning to do. As the unspent money current year may be because a significant delay of critically important activities, perhaps due to weather or else.

How do we know their proposed estimating budget next round or the following rounds would be right/correct, statistically?

Just found something here to save my typing:

Economic Reasoning vs Accounting Fallacies
- The Case of ``Public´´ Research

http://fare.tunes.org/liberty/economic_reasoning.html

* The word ``profit´´ itself is used as an insult, whereas profit is something good: the opposite of profit is loss! Furthermore, whereas in the political struggle the profit of the strongest is indeed the loss the weakest, on the contrary, in a free market where Rights are respected, the profit of the ones, far from being the loss of the others, is also their profit. Hence, there is no doubt that whereas the profit of its owners, of its shareholders, is the only purpose of a company, the only legitimate means to further this purpose is none else than the profit of its customers, its suppliers and its employees [2].

* The opposition between profit and long term is fallacious. There are short-term profits, long-term profits, short-term losses and long-term losses. Multinational firms, financial institutions (investment funds, insurances, banks, etc.), private foundations, all the big private organizations, work on the long term: 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, sometimes 100 years. Actually, what makes long-term endeavours possible is the certainty of the respect for property rights on this very long term.

* And finally, the public political institutions are precisely working on the short term. The only political system that allows really long-term action is monarchy [3]; democracy changes in the medium-term according to the changing outcome of ballot, whereas dictatorship survives in the short run through repression, coups, purges and the other palace intrigues. In a political system, every decision-maker making decisions based on a long-term vision of the public good would see his decisions contradicted in the medium-term by a political successor, any long-term commitment and consistent action being prevented.

* Actually, in a political system, the only effect that persists in the long run is the development of power games tipped toward the interests of bureaucrats who remain in place through changes in political management: nepotism, corporatism. This phenomenon is easy to see in the domain of public research, where research projects are funded two or three years at a time, under the patronage of politicians being reelected every five years or so, whereas mandarins and union directors never cease to advance their agendas.

 

[OddTrader]

http://fare.tunes.org/liberty/economic_reasoning.html

Self-interest explains part of this behavior: when economic fallacies serve to defend the funding of public research and more generally to defend the welfare state, out of which a scientist lives, believes he lives, or intends to live, it can be expected that the first reflex of said scientist be to defend his turf. Rationality comes second after self-interest — which tears down the myth of scientists and other ``experts´´ as objective, pure minds, rather than as humans primarily moved by their self-interest, like all other humans. But beyond this reflex, the ease with which these fallacies prevail, the almost complete lack of resistance to these fallacies, are the sign that something is rotten deep down in the way that opinions are made, by scientists in particular, and by the public at large.

Why would people in a smart country accept a public policy about stimulating investment in research infrastructure?

A government's lack of that would make the country, being currently the best and strongest basically in every individual advanced technologies, possibly undermining one huge aspect significantly - such as combating AGW! Just similar to Moon landing, or Outer Space searching, historically!

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=xaxKWN3SCa7M8gelubHwDA

Russia joins other nations in a historic climate change agreement ...
www.russia-direct.org/.../russia-joins-other-nations-historic-climate-change-agreement - Cached - Similar

14 Dec 2015 ... 12 reached a unanimous agreement to combat climate change. Russia ... During his speech, Putin mentioned one such potential technology: ...


Understanding Russia's approach to climate change and global ...
www.russia-direct.org/.../understanding-russias-approach-climate-change-and-global-warming - Cached - Similar

1 Dec 2015 ... Climate change is occurring in Russia much faster than globally on average. ... to progress by bringing breakthrough technologies into practice.


Vladimir Putin's global warming fix: Carbon nanotubes - Climate Home
www.climatechangenews.com/.../vladimir-putins-global-warming-fix-carbon-nanotubes/ - Cached - Similar

6 Jan 2016 ... “Literally we are standing ready to exchange those technological solutions,” ... Russia emits 2,322 Mt CO2-equivalent a year, or 5.4% of global ...


Russian Nanotube Technology to Help Cut CO2 Emissions by ...
https://sputniknews.com/.../201511301031003488-nano-tech-putin-climate/ - Cached

30 Nov 2015 ... Russia-developed technology that uses additives based on carbon nanotubes ... PARIS (Sputnik) — Speaking at the 21st UN Climate Change ...

 

[Maverick74]

Infrastructure spending, as commonly understood, should follow growth; it does not create growth in and of itself. New downtown sidewalks and lights do not create growth downtown even if better benches for the homeless; growth is what creates new sidewalks.

The only spending, public or private, that creates growth, creates and sustains wealth, is investment in the maintenance or creation in real assets that have future income streams.

Infrastructure spending on real assets (think Tappanzee Bridge) creates wealth directly, in that you get a bridge that can handle an increased volume of tolls. To the degree that such infrastructure spending lowers the cost of production (think expanded labor market through lower commute time, improved transportation creating more reliable deliveries).

Other such investment in airports, ports, electric grid, power plants, etc. can produce positive context for production and creation of real assets, but infrastructure, even focused on creation of future income streams of itself, cannot be successful unless there is a context for growth apart from the individual project.

How does this get you a better job. Effect is indirect, unless you live next to such a project and you work in the trades demanded by that project development. Indirect effect shows up in demand for labor and services that is produced by growth in real assets that you may be able to take advantage of if you have skills in demand and have initiative. Your context for a better job improves but you still have to reach out and qualify for it, same as in a no-growth economy, or declining economy...

You have to ask the personal question; do you want to go fishing at the pond close by, or where the fish are? Are there fish anywhere? Do you want to use the same bait that has caught no fish or do you want fresh bait? If there are no fish, then why use bait?

Infrastructure spending as applied is mostly a Keynesian waste as politics considers all spending the same; its benefit possibility is as above.

Better to reform taxes to encourage domestic investment in real assets; that would drive infrastructure investment anyway.

Well Said. It's akin to the broken window fallacy. To a bureaucrat, they think if they break a perfectly good window it will stimulate demand now to fix it when it reality all they are doing is distorting the market for those resources.

I would say though that by fixing up the inner cities it would bring much needed added supply of rental housing and lower overall rents in the city. The rundown parts of large cities are distorting prices in the nicer areas that are becoming too dense forcing laborers to have large commute times by living in far out places that are more affordable. This commute time does have an effect on labor productivity and the allocation of labor in general.

 

[OddTrader]

Tianjin Eco-City In China: The Future Of Urban Development? (PICTURES)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/tianjin-eco-city_n_806972.html#s221860

Green building is becoming so prevalent these days that it may not be enough to erect individual eco buildings anymore - the newest trend is entire eco-cities. Expected to be up and running in 2020, Tianjin Eco-City is one of these real-life sustainable communities, spanning 30 square kilometers and showcasing the hottest energy-saving technologies. Designed by Surbana Urban Planning Group, the city will have an advanced light rail transit system and varied eco-landscapes ranging from a sun-powered solarscape to a greenery-clad earthscape for its estimated 350,000 residents to enjoy.

imo: it looks like there has been a stagnation of domestic economy in the US as its current ongoing trend has been trying to protect the farming and energy industries, as usual, hence getting voters support from the states generating incomes from these industries.

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Singapore_Tianjin_Eco-city

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city (SSTEC, simplified Chinese: 中新天津生态城; traditional Chinese: 中新天津生態城; pinyin: Zhōng-Xīn Tiānjīn Shēngtài Chéng) is the result of a collaborative agreement between the governments of China and Singapore to jointly develop a socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource-conserving city in China.

Contents

1 Overview
2 Population
3 Location
4 Key features
5 Key Performance Indicators
6 Master plan
7 Groundbreaking ceremony
8 See also
9 References
10 External links


Overview

Designed to be practical, replicable and scalable, the Tianjin Eco-city will demonstrate the determination of both countries in tackling environmental protection, resource and energy conservation, and sustainable development, and serve as a model for sustainable development for other cities in China.

The Singaporean government formed a Ministerial Committee in 2011 in order to improve the coordination and support among its agencies for the project – reportedly a sign of the importance of the project to Singapore.[1]


Population

When fully developed in the early-to-mid 2020s, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city will be home to about 350,000 residents.[2]


Location

The Eco-city site is located 40 km from the Tianjin city centre and 150 km from Beijing. The site is 10 km from the core district of the Tianjin Binhai New Area (TBNA), with the southern tip of the site only a 10-minute drive from the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA).[3]

The Eco-city is sited on non-arable land. Prior to development, the site of the Eco-city was one-third saltpan, one-third deserted beach, and one-third water, including a 270-hectare wastewater pond.


Key features

Green spaces will be interspersed throughout the city. Located in an area of low rainfall, the Eco-city will draw a significant part of its water supply from non-traditional sources such as desalinated water.

Integrated waste management will be implemented in the Eco-city, with particular emphasis on the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste. A light-rail transit system, supplemented by a secondary network of trams and buses, will be the main mode of transportation in the Eco-city. This will help to reduce its carbon emissions.

Social harmony will be a key feature of the Eco-city. An important instrument will be subsidised public housing in the Eco-city, which will help to meet the housing needs of the lower and lower-middle income strata of society, and enable people of different income and social strata to live near to, and interact with, one another. The Eco-city will be barrier-free to cater to the needs of the elderly and the mobility-impaired. Public social and recreational facilities will be located within easy access of homes to meet residents’ needs and provide opportunities for residents to interact.

The development of the Eco-city will respect local heritage. The profile of the Ji Canal, which is 1,000 years old, will be retained. Two existing villages within the Eco-city site will also be conserved through adaptive reuse or partial rebuilding.[4]


Key Performance Indicators

There is a set of 26 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city. In formulating these KPIs, reference is made to national standards in China and Singapore, as well as international standards.[5]

Some of the KPIs are listed below. The development of the start-up area and the entire Eco-city is targeted for completion by 2013 and 2020 respectively, and so reference is made to these years in the KPIs:

* Ambient Air Quality - The air quality in the Eco-city should meet at least China’s National Ambient Air Quality Grade II Standard for at least 310 days per year.

* Quality of Water from Taps - Water from all taps should be potable.

* Carbon Emission Per Unit GDP - The carbon emission per unit GDP in the Eco-city should not exceed 150 tonne-C per US$1 million.

* Proportion of Green Buildings - All buildings in the Eco-city should meet green building standards.

* Green Transportation - At least 90% of trips within the Eco-city should be in the form of green trips by 2020. Green trips refer to trips via non-motorised transport, i.e. cycling and walking, as well as trips on public transport.

* Barrier-Free Accessibility - The Eco-city should have 100% barrier-free access.

* Proportion of Affordable Public Housing - At least 20% of housing in the Eco-city will be in the form of subsidised public housing by 2013.

* Usage of Renewable Energy - Renewable energy should account for at least 15% of the energy utilized in the Eco-city by 2020. Possible sources of renewable energy for the Eco-city include geothermal energy, hydropower and solar power.

* Usage of Water from Non-Traditional Sources - At least 50% of the Eco-city’s water supply will be from non-traditional sources such as desalination and recycled water by 2020.

* Jobs to be generated in the Eco-city - Sufficient jobs should be generated for at least 50% of the Eco-city’s residents within the Eco-city who are employable, to minimize the need for them to commute on a daily basis from their home to their workplace.


Master plan

The master plan of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city was jointly developed by the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute, and the Singapore planning team led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.[6]

The intention is for development to take place around a central core of conserved ecological wetlands and rehabilitated water bodies. The main centre of the Eco-city will be located on the southern bank of a historical thousand-year-old river course, which has been planned for a variety of uses, including commercial, cultural and recreational ones.

A comprehensive green transport network, i.e., non-motorised and public transport, will be developed in the Eco-city. A light rail transit system will serve as the main mode of transport.

Commercial sub-centres will be in each of the suburban areas to provide employment opportunities for the residents and reduce their need for commuting. There will be dedicated service industry parks, university and hospital sites in the Eco-city, which will contribute to the long-term economic vibrancy of the city in a sustainable manner.


Groundbreaking ceremony

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city was held on 28 September 2008. Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao officiated at the event, signifying the beginning of construction work on the Eco-city.[7]

 

[OddTrader]

The rise of the superstars

A small group of giant companies—some old, some new—are once again dominating the global economy, says Adrian Wooldridge. Is that a good or a bad thing?

Sep 17th 2016


http://www.economist.com/news/speci...-old-some-neware-once-again-dominating-global

This special report will explain why the age of entrepreneurialism, ushered in by Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and America’s Ronald Reagan, is giving way to an age of corporate consolidation even as most companies are becoming more virtual. It will examine the forces behind the rise of the superstars and reveal their managerial secrets. And it will attempt to answer the question that Roosevelt raised in Osawatomie: are such corporate giants a cause for concern or for celebration?