New Report: America’s Poor Infrastructure Is Holding Back Economic Growth

[marmar]

from the Infrastructurist:




New Report: America’s Poor Infrastructure Is Holding Back Economic Growth




Earlier this week the McKinsey Global Institute released a report, “Growth and renewal in the United States: Retooling America’s economic engine” (pdf), which concludes that America’s poor infrastructure is one of the country’s foremost impediments to economic growth:

US infrastructure is inadequate to meet the needs of a dynamic, growing economy. At the same time, the quality of infrastructure from transportation to water systems has been in relative decline in the United States, which currently ranks 23rd in the quality of its overall infrastructure, undermining competitiveness. Multinational companies consistently rank infrastructure among the top four criteria they use to make decisions about where to invest.

The reports highlights digital infrastructure as a central problem. In the United States, 27 percent of residents subscribe to broadband Internet service; in Sweden that figure is 41 percent. The effects of this relative disadvantage are particularly noticeable in the retail industry: according to the report, the U.S. households that lack broadband represent a loss of retail purchasing power that amounts to $450 billion.

The McKinsey report also cites highway congestion as a barrier to economic progress. Traffic costs the country $85 billion a year, according to the report, with an average cost per traveler of $1,084 in large urban areas to $384 outside cities. That’s slightly less than the $115 billion yearly figure calculated by the recent Urban Mobility Report, but still in the same ballpark.

Drawing figures from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which recently issued U.S. infrastructure a D grade, the report estimates that the country needs to invest more than $2 trillion over the next five years just to catch up. Considering the partisan fury that followed Obama’s six-year, $556 billion transportation budget plan, such a goal is politically impossible. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.infrastructurist.com/2011/02/18/new-report-americas-poor-infrastructure-is-holding-back-economic-growth/

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