The way it actually works is that we spend a dollar on infrastructure and then, during the life of that infrastructure, we recoup a fraction of that dollar back. Then we are burdened with maintenance costs. Our infrastructure approach is destroying our wealth, not enhancing it.

This can be demonstrated with the ASCE's own numbers. On page 11 of the report they suggest that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 2016 and 2025 will under-perform by $3.955 trillion (their absurd level of precision, not mine) because we aren't investing enough in infrastructure. That means the federal government, which last year took in 18.1% of GDP through taxation, is missing out on $716 billion in tax revenue. According to the ASCE, the federal government need only spend twice that amount -- $1.44 trillion -- to avoid that loss.

Their numbers through 2040 are just as ridiculous. There you have a $14.201 trillion GDP loss resulting in a $2.6 trillion loss to the federal treasury. We can avoid that $2.6 trillion loss of revenue by spending a mere $5.2 trillion.

And note: the losses they are projecting are vastly inflated which only makes that gap wider. More on that later in the week.

How is any of this possible? How is it possible that we spend a dollar on infrastructure and we don't get multiple dollars back as we're led to believe? How is it that infrastructure investments are actually not funding defense and health care and social security and the rest and, in fact, are not even self sustaining? They don't even pay for themselves, let alone their maintenance?

It's the second part of that problem statement above: We've overbuilt AND we don't make productive use of our infrastructure investments.

What do we mean by "productive use" of our infrastructure? As you drive home today, take note of how far apart things are from each other. If you walk or bike, you experience this acutely, but for those of you driving, estimate the distance between buildings. Look at the size of the parking lots. Check out the landscaped areas and stormwater ponds. All of these areas are being served by incredibly expensive infrastructure -- massively expensive -- yet they create no real wealth.