Induced Economic Activity is not Progress
Posted by Graeme Sharpe in Neighborhoods on Sep 14th, 2010 | 1 comment
I’m not always happy with Cost/Benefit Analyses to justify infrastructure investments. Induced economic activity has especially frustrated me because I don’t believe that an extra highway exchange can be justified just because it spawns a Wal-Mart. Too often we see these studies that proclaim a net benefit when in reality the private sector gains a new source of profit while shifting cost and risk to the public (similar to the privatization of Parking Programs).
An interesting case study comes to us from the nation of Iraq. After losing much of their infrastructure in the war...
