John Judis Makes an interesting argument in TNR that Obama needs to consider two significant additions to his stimulus/recovery plan. The first, which I wholeheartedly agree with, is that the stimulus should include massive investment in transit, particularly in inter-city high-speed rail, particularly in the Northeast Bos-Wash corridor and on the West Coast between San Diego and San Francisco. The Accela train, which I've taken from NY to DC, is the fastest rail in the U.S., and only runs at about 100 mph, or half of what bullet trains in Asia and Europe can achieve.
Cutting the travel times between these cities by half or more would make rail the best option for travelers, and would ultimately save money that would have to be spent on less eco-friendly infrastructure like expanded highways and airports. The California High Speed Rail Authority estimates that HSR in California could save $80-150 billion in road and airport expansions.
Right now, the Obama plan only includes $5 billion for inter-city rail, where estimates run about $100b for East and West coast projects (and also think about the potential for an HSR network in the midwest between Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland, which with already-available HSR technology could be about an hour's train ride apart).
The second part of Judis's article, about re-establishing the Bretton Woods system, is above my level of economics, but worth reading for those who know more about international finance than I.
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