It’s been a truism among liberals and socialists for decades that increased government spending on huge public works projects – aka as “investments in infrastructure” – is the best way to stimulate economic growth. In fact, the record since the Herbert Hoover’s proto-New Deal programs provides abundant proof that the only growth such spending encourages is government bureaucracy, regulation and dependency.

Don’t tell that to the incoming Obama administration, which is preparing, in the President-elect’s words, a proposal to “put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children and building wind farms and solar panels, as well as producing fuel efficient cars.” New York’s Sen. Charles Schumer predicts the package could cost as much as $700 billion.

 

But if increased government spending of any kind would create permanent, productive non-public sector employment, surely the record of the last eight years – when federal outlays skyrocketed in areas like transportation and education – would bear evidence of the fact. Obama’s statement provides yet another illustration of how those who compulsively turn to government to solve every problem are frequently addressing problems created by government.