Public Investment
Public spending and investment has played a critical role in the development of America's physical infrastructure and our explosive economic growth. Government investment in railways, roads, bridges, schools, parks and social programs has contributed greatly to the American economy during the last two centuries.
Cry Wolf Quotes
This bill could affect the business of every executive in this room. It could affect the entire national economy and the private lives of every American citizen.
What appears to be simple government planning, to achieve what seem to be worthwhile goals, will absolutely degenerate into total planning. It will encompass production numbers, product design, and ultimately product ownership. And whether you want to call the enemy government planning, or government establishment of goals, there is only one name for it. It is Socialism. If that’s what you want, you have no problem. Just do nothing. And the liberals will elect people to Congress who will give it to you.
I assure you, Senator Javits and others are dead serious in this frontal assault against our free enterprise system. Make no mistake about it, we are talking survival.
S. 1795 could extend the authority of government into a takeover of the functions of the marketplace. What the American public wants to buy, and at what price, would no longer be the guideline for American business. Instead, the manufacturer and the businessman would have to look first to Washington, rather than to the consumer.
Related Laws and Rules
Backgrounders & Briefs
Reviving a Public Spending Agenda
By Lawrence B. Glickman, Department of History, University of South Carolina
An overview of historical debates over, and the importance of, public investment.
Public Infrastructure Policy Brief
By Jason Scott Smith, University of New Mexico
History is replete with evidence from the Great Depression that public investment in infrastructure did indeed generate employment and stimulate economic growth.
Resources
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is a progressive think tank that concentrates on social and economic policy, both domestic and international.
