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Bloomberg (March 3)

2017/ 03/ 05 by jd in Global News

There is a “big problem with China’s bridge and tunnel addiction.” It looks unsustainable. “China spent more than $10.8 trillion on infrastructure from 2006 to 2015…. Outlays for roads, airports, ports, railways, and the like rose 17.4 percent last year, far outpacing the country’s 6.7 percent expansion in gross domestic product.” To maintain the pace, Beijing is promoting public-private partnerships (PPP), but these look “unstable.”

 

Institutional Investor (January 26)

2017/ 01/ 27 by jd in Global News

“It’s not even been a week in office and the Trump administration has already managed to send shivers of excitement through the arcane world of infrastructure investment with talk of new domestic projects…. Not surprisingly, asset managers with infrastructure teams are jumping on the renewed interest in the asset class, holding press briefings and webinars to provide clarity.”

 

New York Times (December 30)

2016/ 12/ 31 by jd in Global News

“Glory, glory, hallelujah! New Year’s Day is about to bring New Yorkers what many of their ancestors never lived to see: the opening of the Second Avenue subway.” Though it is set to open on schedule, the line is really “nearly a century overdue. It was dreamed up in the 1920s, was derailed by the Great Depression, by wars overseas and political battles at home, by the 1970s fiscal crisis, by dithering, distractions, diverted funds and the inertia that keeps big infrastructure projects forever on the drawing board.”

 

Washington Post (September 6)

2016/ 09/ 07 by jd in Global News

“Federal debt incurred to fund current consumption…is in effect a tax on future generations….But debt incurred to finance infrastructure modernization and repair is different. It creates… a long-term asset (the highway, railroad, energy transmission grid or airport such spending buys). It’s perfectly fair to spread the financing costs of those assets across the generations of taxpayers who will enjoy their use.”

 

Washington Post (May 27)

2015/ 05/ 28 by jd in Global News

“China is attempting to steal a march on its neighbors by rapidly constructing airstrips, ports and other infrastructure on reclaimed land in one of the most sensitive maritime areas in Asia—one with multiple overlapping sovereignty claims. While it probably cannot be stopped, the project should be fully exposed—and China’s attempts to restrict air and sea traffic near its installations decisively rejected.”

 

Washington Post (May 13)

2015/ 05/ 15 by jd in Global News

“Amtrak long ago should have installed automatic safeguards against reckless driving on a route like the Northeast Corridor, which is heavily trafficked and passes through dense urban centers.” The fatal Amtrak derailment provides “lessons about the United States’ negligent stewardship of its roads, rails, bridges and tunnels.”

 

Institutional Investor (July 30)

2014/ 08/ 01 by jd in Global News

“As the planet becomes more crowded and as many of its inhabitants enjoy ever higher standards of living, the stresses on our economy and environment will deepen. The global consumer class is forecast to grow by 3 billion in the next 30 years. To stave off unwanted outcomes affecting global stability, we will have to make fundamental changes in the ways we approach energy, infrastructure, development, agriculture, health care and social safety nets.”

 

Euromoney (June Issue)

2014/ 06/ 15 by jd in Global News

The African Development Bank’s 50th Anniversary brought much introspection, but infrastructure is only one problem hindering “meaningful continental integration.” Non-physical barriers present another. “Rules and regulations have not been harmonized within regions. Generally speaking, African countries trade more with Europe than they do with each other; even where roads are good, rent-seeking opportunities widely plague popular trade routes, with officials hoping to benefit from bribes at the expense of their neighbours.”

 

 

Investment Week (May 19)

2014/ 05/ 20 by jd in Global News

At just 3.6%, Japan’s unemployment rate is extremely low and this should promote inflation. “Labour shortages have already driven wages higher for part-time workers. Adding to this, the demand to provide new infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the need to replace equipment should also serve to further stimulate the economy.” The OECD has forecast that “only Japan, New Zealand, and Israel are expected to grow faster than their previously forecasted GDPs in 2014.”

 

Euromoney (April Issue)

2014/ 04/ 21 by jd in Global News

“Blackouts have become so widespread on the island of Mindanao that social-media users have taken to calling the energy secretary the secretary of darkness.” This highlights the need for infrastructure, not just in the Philippines, but throughout much of ASEAN where the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates “infrastructure projects will require sustained annual investment of approximately $60 billion a year to 2020.” Banking giant HSBC believes “demand in Asia as a whole might reach $11.5 trillion by 2030.”

 

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