{"id":324735,"date":"2021-08-15T06:06:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T03:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/"},"modified":"2021-08-15T06:06:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-15T03:06:00","slug":"the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Conversation: History shows spending on infrastructure doesn\u2019t always end well"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aefe5b72e218\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aefe5b72e218\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/#Theres_an_environmental_and_financial_downside_to_ambitious_public_works_such_as_highways_dams_and_canals\" >There\u2019s an environmental and financial downside to ambitious public works such as highways, dams and canals<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-6' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-6'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-6' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-6'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-6' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-6'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-6' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-6'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/#Overbuilding\" >Overbuilding<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-6'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/#Delayed_costs\" >Delayed costs<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/#One_of_the_most_beautiful_places_on_Earth_was_flooded_to_provide_water_to_San_Francisco\" >One of the most beautiful places on Earth was flooded to provide water to San Francisco.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conversation-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well\/#Richard_White\" >Richard White<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#The Conversation: History shows spending on infrastructure doesn\u2019t always end well<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Theres_an_environmental_and_financial_downside_to_ambitious_public_works_such_as_highways_dams_and_canals\"><\/span>\n  There\u2019s an environmental and financial downside to ambitious public works such as highways, dams and canals<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"column column--full article__content\">\n<div class=\"article__side\">\n<div class=\"container--sticky not-active\">\n<div id=\"cx-next\" data-nosnippet>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"js-article__body\" class=\"article__body article-wrap at16-col16 barrons-article-wrap\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000372234\">\n<div class=\"barrons-article-ad-wrapper\">\n<div data-track=\"barrons-article-ad-wrap\" class=\"barrons-article-ad sticky_item\">\n<div class=\"barrons-main-article-ad-target sticky_target body_ad\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-layout=\"\n                inline\" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetArticleReader\n              \n              inline\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetArticleReader\n              article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-object-article-reader\">\n<div class=\"audioplayer\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000372234\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Listen to Article\" tabindex=\"-1\" id=\"articlereader\" data-show-title=\"false\" data-theme=\"wsj-article-reader\" data-show-header=\"false\" data-show-subscribe=\"false\" data-ads-enabled=\"true\" data-save-publication=\"false\">\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Over the past two centuries, federal, state and municipal governments across the U.S. have launched wave after wave of infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n<p> They built\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ohiohistorycentral.org\/w\/Ohio_and_Erie_Canal\" class=\"icon none\">canals to move freight in the 1830s and 1840s<\/a>. Governments subsidized railroads in the mid- and late 19th century. They created\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/sanitary-city-urban-infrastructure-in-america-from-colonial-times-to-the-present\/oclc\/493770520\" class=\"icon none\">local sewage and water systems<\/a>\u00a0in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/rivers-of-empire-water-aridity-and-the-growth-of-the-american-west-by-donald-worster\/oclc\/1034713077&amp;referer=brief_results\" class=\"icon none\">dams and irrigation systems<\/a>\u00a0through much of the 20th century. During World War II,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/fortress-california-1910-1961-from-warfare-to-welfare\/oclc\/933733064\" class=\"icon none\">massive amounts of public money<\/a>\u00a0were spent building and expanding ports, factories, airfields and shipyards. And after the war, highway construction\u2014long a state and local project\u2014<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov\/research\/online-documents\/interstate-highway-system\" class=\"icon none\">became a federal endeavor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        The results may have been worth the price, but it is useful to recognize that there was a price\u2014one that continues to be paid.<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Many of these projects did not end well. The problem wasn\u2019t that the country didn\u2019t need infrastructure\u2014it did. And the troubles weren\u2019t the result of technical failures: By and large, Americans successfully built what they intended, and much of what they built still stands.<\/p>\n<p> The real problems arose before anyone lifted a shovel of earth or raised a hammer. These problems stem from how hard it is to think ahead, and they are easy to ignore in the face of excitement about new spending, new construction and increased employment.<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"header\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetMediaVideo\n            header\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetMediaVideo\n            article__inset--header\n  \"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-object-video article__inset__video media-object-video--standard\">\n<div class=\"wsj-media-summary clearfix\">\n<div class=\"strap-container\">\n<h4 class=\"strap\" itemprop=\"description\">\n<\/h4><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"video-container article__inset__video__player\" id=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/7D7C6D3D-4245-4B44-A5D4-95764F4B84DD\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/7D7C6D3D-4245-4B44-A5D4-95764F4B84DD\" data-format=\"standard\" data-esplash=\"\" data-msplash=\"\" data-suppressheadline=\"\" data-verticalstill=\"\">\n  <\/div><figcaption class=\"wsj-article-caption article__inset__video__caption\">\n          Senate Democrats\u2019 $3.5 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan is a sprawling piece of legislation. WSJ&#8217;s Gerald F. Seib gives a rundown of the handful of provisions that figure to be the most popular, and the ones seen as most controversial. Photo illustration: Todd Johnson<br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>       The questions about which massive structures to build, and where, are actually very hard to answer. Infrastructure is always about the future: It takes years to construct, and lasts for years beyond that.<\/p>\n<p>The money invested in roads, railroads, airports and dams cannot be repurposed, and what is built requires large future expenditures for upkeep. If the infrastructure isn\u2019t needed, then we throw good money after bad. <\/p>\n<h6><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Overbuilding\"><\/span>Overbuilding<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Obsolescence isn\u2019t the worst of the potential problems that can come from infrastructure spending. Railroads dominated the 19th century, but the U.S. built too many of them, particularly into the lightly populated West. I spent a whole book discussing the many ways in which that work, lauded now as a great success of government funding for private infrastructure, was in fact\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wwnorton.com\/books\/9780393342376\" class=\"icon none\">a costly and wasteful failure<\/a>. The costs began with the bankruptcies and repeated\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/features\/grant-panic\/\" class=\"icon none\">regional and national economic crises<\/a>\u00a0that 19th-century Americans referred to as \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=Kk0tAQAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA12&amp;lpg=PA12&amp;dq=%22railroad+depression%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=KqfFEUl8fg&amp;sig=ACfU3U3aGlAtFeiq-OOlFHiyS6Om6Keyfw&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiS1PSLgafyAhWLF1kFHZY_B-kQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=%22railroad%20depression%22&amp;f=false\" class=\"icon none\">railroad depressions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        Building canals for a railroad age proved a great mistake. But climate change makes building an infrastructure for a carbon economy a far more dangerous endeavor.<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Infrastructure is intended to promote development, and it will. But that can be a problem. There is such a thing as dumb growth, like the development that swamped 19th-century markets with wheat, timber and minerals that they could not absorb. The result was\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/garden-in-the-grasslands-boomer-literature-of-the-central-great-plains\/oclc\/963431294\" class=\"icon none\">numerous business failures<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/dust-bowl-the-southern-plains-in-the-1930s\/oclc\/1110485202\" class=\"icon none\">abandonment of whole geographic areas<\/a>\u00a0when the economy went bust, as during the Dust Bowl.<\/p>\n<p> The economic damage the overbuilding of railroads yielded paled before the environmental damage wrought by the mining, clear-cutting and large-scale agriculture they encouraged. And this points to another problem.<\/p>\n<h6><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Delayed_costs\"><\/span>Delayed costs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h6>\n<p>People tend to disregard the long-term costs of the plans they make, particularly if they reap the benefits and others pay the costs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cx-membership-tile\"><\/div>\n<p>In the early 20th century, municipal water and sewage projects were great successes. They probably had more to do with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/40067842\" class=\"icon none\">reducing disease<\/a>\u00a0than medical advances did. They made modern cities livable.<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetMediaIllustration\n            inline\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetMediaIllustration\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"\n        media-object-image\n        enlarge-image\n        img-inline\n        article__inset__image\n      \" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:65%;\" data-subtype=\"photo\" class=\"image-container  responsive-media article__inset__image__image\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=540&amp;size=1.5384615384615385 540w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=620&amp;size=1.5384615384615385 620w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=639&amp;size=1.5384615384615385 639w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=700&amp;size=1.5384615384615385 700w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=700&amp;size=1.5384615384615385&amp;pixel_ratio=1.5 1050w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=700&amp;size=1.5384615384615385&amp;pixel_ratio=2 1400w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=700&amp;size=1.5384615384615385&amp;pixel_ratio=3 2100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 979px) 620px, (max-width: 1299px) 540px, 700px\" src=\"https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-384189?width=700&amp;height=455\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"wsj-article-caption article__inset__image__caption\" itemprop=\"caption\">\n<h4 class=\"wsj-article-caption-content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One_of_the_most_beautiful_places_on_Earth_was_flooded_to_provide_water_to_San_Francisco\"><\/span>One of the most beautiful places on Earth was flooded to provide water to San Francisco.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>      <span class=\"wsj-article-credit article__inset__image__caption__credit\" itemprop=\"creator\"><br \/>\n            Getty Images\/iStockphoto<br \/>\n          <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>       But they inflicted costs on others. Los Angeles became Los Angeles by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/california\/la-me-owens-valley-eminent-domain-20170712-story.html\" class=\"icon none\">draining water away from the Owens Valley<\/a>, draining a lake and reducing farmland to desert. San Francisco became San Francisco by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/local\/article\/Here-s-where-the-Bay-Area-s-water-actually-comes-16220701.php\" class=\"icon none\">flooding the Hetch Hetchy Valley<\/a>, which naturalist John Muir once called \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earthisland.org\/journal\/index.php\/articles\/entry\/a_century_later_the_battle_for_hetch_hetchy_continues\" class=\"icon none\">a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite<\/a>.\u201d The results may have been worth the price, but it is useful to recognize that there was a price\u2014one that continues to be paid.<\/p>\n<p>When launched, new infrastructure seems to be a list of benefits. In the mid-20th century, enthusiasts for hydroelectricity and irrigation saw all sorts of advantages as the government dammed Western rivers and irrigated Western lands. But many of these lands\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/killing-the-colorado\/story\/arizona-cotton-drought-crisis\" class=\"icon none\">needed unreasonable amounts of irrigation<\/a>\u00a0to yield the desired crops.\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9780809015832\" class=\"icon none\">Dams utterly changed the nature of rivers<\/a>\u00a0and hurt the iconic species of the Pacific West, particularly salmon. <\/p>\n<p>It might have been helpful for builders to have had a little less faith that future technologies would correct the problems they foresaw.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the greatest federal infrastructure system of the late 20th century is the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transportation.gov\/testimony\/celebrating-50-years-eisenhower-interstate-highway-system\" class=\"icon none\">interstate highway system<\/a>. It changed the spatial arrangement of the nation and how Americans moved. It capitalized on the American car culture, until the interstates became crowded around cities they maimed and people confronted climate change, to which the cars on those interstates\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/can-a-future-ban-on-gas-powered-cars-work-an-economist-explains-150590\" class=\"icon none\">contribute so significantly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In promoting infrastructure, politicians will tout jobs, economic growth and a whole array of conveniences and benefits. Citizens should be more sophisticated.<\/p>\n<p>They should ask who\u2014particularly which corporations and developers\u2014are going to benefit from these projects. They should look beyond the price tag to the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> and environmental costs. Building canals for a railroad age proved a great mistake. But climate change makes building an infrastructure for a carbon economy a far more dangerous endeavor.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Richard White is a professor of American history at Stanford University. He is an historian specializing in the American West, the history of capitalism, environmental history, history and memory, and Native American history. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the Mellon Distinguished Professor Award. His work has won numerous academic prizes, and he has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>This commentary was originally published by The Conversation\u2014<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us-history-shows-spending-on-infrastructure-doesnt-always-end-well-165653\" class=\"icon none\">US history shows spending on infrastructure doesn\u2019t always end\u00a0well.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>More on infrastructure: <\/p>\n<p>20 stocks for maximum growth as the world switches to clean energy<\/p>\n<p>Infrastructure bill will \u2018help make a historic recovery a long-term boom,\u2019 Biden says, after Senate passage<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t solve the climate crisis without getting out of our cars and onto buses and trains<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetDynamic\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetDynamic\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dynamic-inset-container article__inset__dynamic\">\n<style>\n    .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"] {\n        height: 1px;\n        margin-bottom: 5px;\n    }\n    .at16units .bleed .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"] {\n        height: 1px;\n    }\n    body.at12units .bleed .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"] {\n        height: 1px;\n    }\n    body .inline .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"],\n    body .offset .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"],\n    body .header .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"],\n    body.at8units .bleed .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"] {\n        height: 1px;\n    }\n    body.at4units .inline .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"],\n    body.at4units .offset .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"],\n    body.at4units .header .wsj-interactive.generic-iframe-embed[name=\"counter\"] {\n        height: 1px;\n    }\n<\/style>\n<p><iframe class=\"wsj-interactive generic-iframe-embed\" name=\"counter\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.edu.au\/content\/165653\/count.gif\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-caption\" itemprop=\"caption\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"byline article__byline\">\n<p>    <span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author  hasMenu\" data-scrim='{\"type\":\"author\",\"header\":\"Richard White\",\"subhead\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"list\":[]}' itemscope itemprop=\"author\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Richard_White\"><\/span>Richard White<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-75AE-0A61A4DEBC84%7D&#038;siteid=rss&#038;rss=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#The Conversation: History shows spending on infrastructure doesn\u2019t always end well&#8221; There\u2019s an environmental and financial downside to ambitious public works such as highways, dams and canals Over the past two centuries, federal, state and municipal governments across the U.S. have launched wave after wave of infrastructure projects. They built\u00a0canals to move freight in the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}