Krugman: ARC Is Nation’s ‘Most Important Current Public Works Project’

“It was a destructive and incredibly foolish decision on multiple levels,” writes New York Times columnist and eminent economist Paul Krugman in today’s paper. He was referring to Governor Chris Christie’s decision to put the kibosh on ARC, a tunnel that would burrow under the Hudson River, dramatically increasing train capacity between New York and New Jersey. As he notes, right now there’s only one rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, and, “The need for another tunnel couldn’t be more obvious.”

But, because Mr. Krugman is Mr. Krugman, he also takes a more macro view of the decision. His argument? This is just one more example of how the United States is recklessly allowing its most important infrastructure to deteriorate: “By refusing to pay for essential investment, politicians are both perpetuating unemployment and sacrificing long-run growth.”