Paul Krugman explains why it's insane for the US not to prioritize infrastructure investments right now:
Take a look at the latest Treasury real yield curve data — the interest rate the U.S. government pays on bonds that are indexed to inflation:
That’s right: for every maturity of bonds under 20 years, investors
are paying the feds to take their money — and in the case of maturities
of 10 years and under, paying a lot.
What’s going on? Investor pessimism about prospects for the real
economy, which makes the perceived safe haven of US debt attractive even
at very low yields. And pretty obviously investors do consider US debt
safe — there is no hint here of worries about the level of debt and
deficits.
Now, you might think that there would be a consensus that, even
leaving Keynesian things aside, this is a really good time for the
government to invest in infrastructure and stuff: money is free, the
workers would otherwise be unemployed.
But no: the Very Serious People have decided that the big problem is
that Washington is borrowing too much, and that addressing this problem
is the key to … something.
