US Debt now > GDP

Cost more than where? New York city? San Francisco? I don't think so.

Cost more than where? New York city? San Francisco? I don't think so.

New york is mostly flat and has port access San Fran also has port access as well as a roadsystem that was designed by an engineer as the city expanded.

And have tidal water flows and hydraulic water tables to deal with and an extremely high land values, labor costs, etc.

....problems. Regardless infrastructuire spending is important but it should not be debt spending and perferabbly not federal funding at all.

Agreed.

" New rules taking effect in the course of the decade will force banks to set aside at least minimal sums to cover the risk of government bonds. The so-called Basel III banking rules approved by the G-20 last year would require banks to hold capital reserves equal to at least 3 percent of all their holdings, regardless of the perceived risk. That rule, intended to prevent banks from taking on too much leverage or gaming banking regulations, would also apply to government bonds. But the rule, known as a leverage ratio, would not take effect until 2018 and could still change."

I like the idea of capping debt to 1% under GDP.

I like the idea of capping debt to 1% under GDP.

How did these places originally afford to build this expensive infrastructure that they're no longer capable of maintaining?

A new budget report released Tuesday predicts the government will run a $1.1 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in September, a slight dip from last year but still very high by any measure.

The Congressional Budget Office report also says that annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years if Bush-era tax cuts slated to expire in December are extended, as commonly assumed.

The CBO study also predicts modest economic growth of 2 percent this year and forecasts that the unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent this year. That is based on an assumption that President Barack Obama will fail to win renewal of payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits by the end of next month.
...
The CBO report shows that the deficit dilemma would largely be solved if the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 — and renewed in 2010 through the end of this year — were allowed to lapse. Under that scenario, the deficit would drop to $585 billion in 2013 and to $220 billion in 2017.

Congressional Budget Office reports another $1 trillion deficit