Opportunity cost
“The difference between the yield that funds earn in one use and the yield they could have earned had they been placed in an alternative investment generating the highest yield available.”
Media coverage, mainstream and otherwise, today has been all over discussing whether or not this bridge was “obsolete” and what that means, and whether or not there was “fatigue” in the steel, or other signs of wear/tear. They’ve been going over the frequencies of inspections, etc. They’ve talked about the age of the bridge (1967).
One interesting radio bit, though, on “Here and Now”, was discussing the status of our nation’s bridge infrastructure, and the fact that, on average, a bridge collapses every week somewhere in the United States. Which brings me back to the title of this post. Opportunity cost. Here’s a number: $448,547,085,637 , one that is already obsolete, because it was from the morning of August 2, 2007. Go ahead and click on the link and see how much the number has gone up between then and now when you are reading this. Here’s a question to go along with that number: How many of those bridges that have fallen down in the past 4+ years of war could have been repaired if we hadn’t spent that money blowing shit up? Just wondering. Talk amongst yourselves.
Stories about bad bridges have been out for years. I get your point about money spent elsewhere. It’s also so that elected officials and citizens have stressed tax cuts at the expense of many public purposes.
I’d like to be hopeful that this will spur some action. But look at the inaction after the even bigger disaster of Katrina and draw your conclusions about what will happen now.
Oh, I’m _totally_ skeptical that people will be spurred to change their ways because of this. If Katrina didn’t teach people a lesson about the need to tend to infrastructure, then this bridge sure isn’t going to do it…
When people complain about their taxes, I tell them that it is an admission ticket that I am happy to pay for the privilege of living in a place where there are schools to educate the masses, where there are institutions to keep us safe and where we can drive around on roads with bridges that don’t fall down. Oops, may need to reconsider that last one.
Bridge collapses, young families with no healthcare, failing schools, whole countries in ruins, hundreds of thousands of war victims, tax cuts for billionaires…all reminders that a budget is a moral document. As Errington reminds us, Where is the Outrage?!! Here, as well as at my own website, InSpiritry.com, and even in our daily lives, there has never been a more important time to Speak (and demand funds for)Peace.