Word: costes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Investment drops in a period of deflation. Who wants to put money into assets which may continue to lose value? Who wants to buy goods and services and hire people when all of those may cost less in the future? (See pictures of TIME's Wall Street covers...
...repairs. When you build a road, you increase your need for future road repairs. Repairs are also quicker to get moving than new construction, and the Federal Highway Administration has calculated that repairs create 9% more jobs per dollar spent. And while repairs eliminate potholes and other problems that cost motorists time and money, new construction tends to produce rural or exurban sprawl roads that promote speculative development, overstretch municipal services, lengthen commutes and increase gasoline consumption and emissions. (See who's who in Obama's White House...
...other hand, some initiatives have negative tails - spending money now saves it later. That's one reason Obama is so keen on energy efficiency; retrofitting 75% of federal buildings would curb emissions and set a powerful example as well as slash government energy costs for years to come. Obama also wants to invest in computerizing health records, which would cost tens of billions up front but could save hundreds of billions in government health costs. "At some point, we've got to start turning this around," says Democratic Congressman Ron Kind of Wisconsin, who wants the stimulus to create...
...billion to go," he said with a sigh. "Really, I spent time on this, and it's a reach to get to $100 billion." Obama and his team are starting to sound irked by demands for more. Why retrofit only 75% of federal buildings? Uh, it's not exactly cost-effective to retrofit a particle accelerator. What about more high-speed rail? Wonderful, if there were more projects ready to go. Why stop at weatherizing 2 million homes? Sorry, there are only so many guys who know how to use caulk guns...
...none of them in St. Louis. Obama has vowed to reject earmarks, but if Congress simply passes cash to the states according to the usual formulas - and it will unless Obama intervenes - America is in for yet another festival of asphalt. There is even talk of waiving the regular cost-sharing requirements for local and state governments, an excellent way to make sure they green-light oinkers they would never pay for themselves. (See the top 10 financial-crisis buzzwords...