On Thursday's Your Call, we'll take a look at the public infrastructure projects that we depend on. How is public money being allocated and who is making these decisions? What are we still good at making locally? This past Sunday the final sections of the Bay Bridge were delivered from Shanghai. The bridge builders estimate they saved $400 million by outsourcing to a Chinese company. But at what point is that extra burden to taxpayers worth the trade to stimulate local economy? Has local hiring on these major projects become inefficient? Do public works projects no longer stimulate local economies? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
Guests:
Corey Marshall, Good Government Policy Director from SPUR (San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association)
Dr. Gray Brechin, Historical Geographer and Author
Click to Listen: Do public works projects stimulate local economies?
Why should anyone care about American Unions or unions in public works projects. Why blame companies for choosing adaptable, inexpensive products & services.
ReplyDeleteYour emphasis on social issues over quality results & cost does the community a disservice.
Boston finished a huge public works project - the "Big Dig" - a decade ago and it turned out expensive and shoddy. Clearly, unions and locals did no better and maybe worse than a market-based solution.
Unions have much to answer for on flexibility and quality results.
There are plenty of economic bright spots in non-union sectors: technology, services, etc.
Unions dominated sectors return unsatisfactory results such as, government agencies, teachers who fight merit-based reviews, car factories that turns out expensive and shoddy products. Unions appear to be inflexible sinecures for demanding incompetents.
Let merit and market determine our future instead of leaving it to inflexible, lazy, complainers. This way, America has a chance for quality, inexpensive infrastructure that is done right the first tiem.