Reinvesting in Infrastructure

Former International Affairs Undersecretary Larry Summers gives an insightful construction talk where he encourages the nation that now is the ideal time to rebuild our schools, buildings and public spaces.

The current state of the American economy is such that the construction unemployment is ridiculously high while interest rates to build are at a record low. Because of this, encouraging new infrastructure development right now is opportune since it will employe many workers looking for jobs but won't cost nearly as much as it would if interest rates were at a higher percentage. With new technologies added to the field of construction daily, there is no better time to invest. As Summers puts it, "I think there’s enormous opportunity for productive infrastructure investment and certainly at a moment when the long term interest rate is so low there’s a great deal of investment on which we could earn a social return very much in excess of the social cost."