Road to Nowhere: Federal Transportation Infrastructure Policy

INFOGRAPHIC

By Edward Alden – Transportation infrastructure is one of the pillars of a modern competitive economy. It allows people to travel to and from work easily every day. It permits goods to move quickly from U.S. factories to international markets, or from coastal ports to American retail shops, boosting productivity. It lets us hop in the car, or on a train or plane to escape for the weekend or a longer holiday, improving our quality of life and making the United States a more attractive place to live.

Americans understood this once upon a time, building the most impressive network of roads and airports in the world, as well as a solid freight rail system. But for far too long we have been living on that inheritance. more> more> http://tinyurl.com/bs9pf5h

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Euro crisis: the twilight zone

English: Various Euro bills. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editorial – So now we know what €100bn buys you: five days. It’s taken less than a week for financial markets to pass judgment on Spain‘s bumper rescue package – and they’ve pronounced it a failure.

Euroland has finally entered the twilight zone: an extraordinary, frightening situation has been visited upon ordinary folk in 17 countries, who now await a dreadfully macabre twist. This judgment can be defended in two ways. First, Spain is now paying over 7% for a 10-year loan – the interest-rate level reached by Greece, Ireland and Portugal at which they were each forced to seek a lifeline from the IMF and Europe.

The next big turn in the eurozone saga is not far away. Greece holds another general election this weekend, and whichever party or coalition emerges from it will be forced to demand a relaxation of its austerity program. more> http://tinyurl.com/7jedpwx

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Govt to pay ISPs for NBN voice migration

English: Diagram of the fixed wireless and satellite network design for the NBN, based on the information available in NBN Co’s business plan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Josh Taylor – [Australia] Under the $11 billion dollar deal NBN Co struck with Telstra, Telstra’s copper network will be decommissioned in NBN-connected areas, once those areas have been classed as “ready for service”. This happens once NBN Co has passed 90 per cent of premises in that area.

In satellite and fixed-wireless areas, the copper will be maintained by Telstra for phone services, but in fibre areas, even if customers are only seeking a voice service and not broadband, they will be required to migrate onto the NBN.

Voice customers will have just over two years between the ready-for-service date and when their voice service on the copper network is completely disconnected. more> http://tinyurl.com/6t2hyf8

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