More Fallacious Views on Infrastructure ‘Investment’

Piggy-backing off libertas’ post from a few days ago, Think Progress has again made the fallacy of assuming that government expenditures on infrastructure is inherently beneficial to the economy. See quote below:

With borrowing costs low and the nation’s unemployment rate high, infrastructure improvement projects can fix the major problems facing our nation’s roads, bridges, and water systems while putting people back to work and reinvigorating the American economy. Unfortunately, the GOP’s presidential candidates have chosen instead to pretend the problems don’t exist.

Leaving the political baggage aside, asserting that infrastructure improvement projects will “reinvigorate” the American economy is unwise because it simply is not true, and especially if such projects will be funded by deficit spending. But even were the government to have sufficient funds with which to finance such projects, they have no method by which to calculate profit and loss, meaning any “project” can only further distort the economy.

Again, libertas’ article from a few days ago on this very topic is great, and I highly recommend it.