And you wonder why I say I think we need investment in infrastructure? Look at the company we keep in Europe:
That is pretty embarrassing and a damning indictment of UK government policy.
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I wish that I could say I was surprised. Germany surprises me but not the UK. Do you know if privatisation affects the definition of “Public Capital Stock” in this case. I don’t imagine that PFI would but privatisation of ownership might. I don’t know.
As far as I know PFI does not alter this
Germany spends a lot on infrastructure as the EU’s biggest net contributor. But if it is spent on other countries ( cohesion funding, rural infrastructure etc in the newer members ) then it shows up in the graph above under the country that gets the money, not the one that gives it.
Marco, have you not read Bill Mitchell on Germany? Apparently the idea is to run their infrastructure into the ground citing austerity and then, again citing lack of funds as justification, implement a state/corporate set up akin to PFI which will effectively have the German people working to make a handful of corporations, and no doubt their political chums, very wealthy indeed.
And isn’t Luxemburg one of those so-called tax havens?
Yes
So?
It doesn’t seem to adversely affect their investment in infrastructure. I’m not defending tax havens, it’s just interesting that the UK comes bottom of whatever league we choose to play in. Meanwhile our wealthy elite are the envy of the world.
Richard – it is not just a damning indictment of “our” government’s policies. It should be and excoriation of our WHOLE BUSINESS CULTURE. Or lack of it. Sorry to shout.
It would be interesting to see the correlation between infrastructure investments and the effect on various social and economic aspects of the countries mentioned.
Seen in isolation, this graph raises a lot of questions about political choices and reasons for these investments or lack of.
I’m surprised at Germany’s poor score, it belies the correlation between productivity and infrastructure which is often made. Other factors are clearly far more important here.
Does its poor score imply that Germany does not need investments in this area? I’m sure it does, it has many ageing roads and motorways.
As for the UK, not surprised at all. Private profit before common interest all the way for quite a few years now.
For you and Marco 🙂 http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=36615
Thanks for that. I was aware of some of the issues mentioned, but not all.
I lived in Crete for seven years, coming back to the UK two years ago. I live on the Isle of Wight (previously London) and the lack of money for infrastructure for the Island alone has been appalling for years, I’m told. What was most noticeable for me were the potholes which, as a user of a mobility scooter, are a nightmare to negotiate and far, far worse than Crete – so bad I was actually shocked. It’s a comparison I keep making to anyone who’ll listen! In other words, this graph doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.