What is the Cost of Failing to Invest in Infrastructure?
Homeland Security Digital Library Blog 2013-01-16
Summary:
The report Failure to Act: The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) “presents an overall picture of the economic opportunity associated with infrastructure investment and the cost of failing to fill the investment gap.”
“ASCE finds that with an additional investment of $157 billion a year between now and 2020, the U.S. can eliminate this drag on economic growth and protect: •$3.1 trillion in GDP, almost the equivalent of Germany’s entire GDP •$1.1 trillion in U.S. trade value, equivalent to Mexico’s GDP •3.5 million jobs, more than the jobs created in the U.S. over the previous 22 months •$2.4 trillion in consumer spending, comparable to Brazil’s GDP •$3,100 in annual personal disposable income”