Let’s build a high-speed rail system in this country.

It seems we’re going to be dropping some coin on our infrastructure at the Federal level no matter what. Infrastructure isn’t an inherently bad use of public funds, but we need to make sure we’re not creating “make-work” jobs that don’t produce much of value once the projects are complete. The proverbial broken windows (or in this case roads and bridges) do need to be fixed, but merely fixing them doesn’t get us far.

If we’re going to “invest” -a word that is used way too loosely- in infrastructure, let’s build something of significant value.

A high speed rail system, perhaps? We’ve found out in the last year or two just how efficient the trains are, but we’re way behind other developed nations in the modernity of our rail system. Perhaps a mag-lev corridor is too much to ask, but at least it warrants a cost-benefit analysis.

Whatever we do (since we’re definitely going to do something rather than nothing), we should make sure that we’re laying the cornerstone for future growth, not just filling potholes to keep busy.

Cross posted at my blog