By Nancy Spannaus March 18, 2019—Recent announcements by the Trump Administration on critical infrastructure projects, amount to nothing less than sabotage. Without effective Congressional action to ensure Federal government funding of major capital investments in infrastructure like that now under threat, there is no hope for a sustainable economic recovery […]
By Nancy Spannaus March 9, 2019—The March 6 House Ways and Means Committee hearing on transportation infrastructure put the crucial problem which is blocking vitally-needed action on this topic, squarely on the table: the lack of understanding of the Hamiltonian principle of credit. From Representative Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the […]
By Nancy Spannaus March 1, 2019—The latest report on the U.S. infrastructure disaster by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is a straightforward call for Congress and the President to act now. The “Build to Win” document begins by stating that “in an alarming state of disrepair and in urgent […]
By Angela Vullo Feb. 7, 2019–How is it possible that, with 71% of the earth’s surface covered with water, we have a shortage of fresh drinking water on the planet? Might one of the reasons be that, in addition to criminal underdevelopment of the developing nations, some U.S. water infrastructure […]
Feb. 2, 2019—Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Or), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will convene his first hearing on the nation’s infrastructure needs on Thursday, Feb. 7. According to the announcement on the Committee’s site, the hearing is entitled “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why Investing in Our Nation’s […]
By Nancy Spannaus Feb. 1, 2019—Rep. John Larson’s Jan. 30 announcement that he is reintroducing his Social Security 2100 Act is good news. Larson (D-Conn) was joined by Reps. Conor Lamb (D-Pa) and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn) at his press conference, where he declared that he already has 200 sponsors for […]
By John Ascher Jan. 6, 2018–A group of Progressive Democrats this past week challenged Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic establishment on one issue which counts: their decision to reassert the House version of PAYGO. (Pay-as-you-go.) They lost the challenge, but have raised an important debate. The Progressives were […]
By Angela Vullo Dec. 30, 2018–The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in their 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gave the state of drinking water in the United States a D rating, detailing that 6 billion gallons of treated water is lost every day, and that more than $105 billion dollars […]
Answering questions about how a National Infrastructure Bank would function
By Nancy Spannaus June 16, 2019—Today, this blog turns two years old. Over the past two years, we have published 333 posts, ranging from reprints of key historic documents, to in-depth analyses of FDR’s New Deal and war mobilization, to more pithy analyses of current economic developments from the standpoint […]
by Nancy Spannaus June 15, 2019–In their June 12 column in Wall Street on Parade, Pam and Russ Martens reviewed the scandal of the century—the fact that the Federal Reserve has bailed out Wall Street to the tune of $27 trillion since the crash of 2008-9. They concluded, appropriately, with […]
A Response to Rep. DeFazio on Infrastructure Banks
By Alphecca Muttardy, macro-economist March 31, 2019–In his written and spoken testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on March 6, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, correctly described what would happen to our economy if our nation’s critical infrastructure needs are not addressed. Citing the […]