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Full-Text Articles in Economics
U.S. Infrastructure: 1929-2017, Ray C. Fair
U.S. Infrastructure: 1929-2017, Ray C. Fair
Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers
This paper examines the history of U.S. infrastructure since 1929 and in the process reports an interesting fact about the U.S. economy. Infrastructure as a percent of GDP began a steady decline around 1970, and the government budget deficit became positive and large at roughly the same time. The infrastructure pattern in other countries does not mirror that in the United States, so the United States appears to be a special case. The overall results suggest that the United States became less future oriented beginning around 1970. This change has persisted. This is the interesting fact. Whether it can be …
Consequences Of The Clean Water Act And The Demand For Water Quality, David A. Keiser, Joseph S. Shapiro
Consequences Of The Clean Water Act And The Demand For Water Quality, David A. Keiser, Joseph S. Shapiro
Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers
Since the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act, government and industry have invested over $1 trillion to abate water pollution, or $100 per person-year. Over half of U.S. stream and river miles, however, still violate pollution standards. We use the most comprehensive set of files ever compiled on water pollution and its determinants, including 50 million pollution readings from 170,000 monitoring sites, to study water pollution’s trends, causes, and welfare consequences. We have three main findings. First, water pollution concentrations have fallen substantially since 1972, though were declining at faster rates before then. Second, the Clean Water Act’s grants to municipal …
Consequences Of The Clean Water Act And The Demand For Water Quality, David A. Keiser, Joseph S. Shapiro
Consequences Of The Clean Water Act And The Demand For Water Quality, David A. Keiser, Joseph S. Shapiro
Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers
Since the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act, government and industry have invested over $1 trillion to abate water pollution, or $100 per person-year. Over half of U.S. stream and river miles, however, still violate pollution standards. We use the most comprehensive set of files ever compiled on water pollution and its determinants, including 50 million pollution readings from 240,000 monitoring sites and a network model of all U.S. rivers, to study water pollution’s trends, causes, and welfare consequences. We have three main findings. First, water pollution concentrations have fallen substantially. Between 1972 and 2001, for example, the share of waters …