As many as 5,000 bridges along Germany's autobahns are so decrepit that they need to be renovated or rebuilt as quickly as possible. But the state, restrained by a national debt brake, is struggling to find the money.
Because it requires raising taxes and very few want that. Raise it on just the rich? Even the poor don’t want that because they’re just temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
It does not. Spending money you borrow at an interest rate that’s as low as it currently is, is way, way, way cheaper than going “Oops, sorry, there’s currently no money for roads / bridges / hospitals / Kitas /…” and waiting until they’ve fallen into complete unrepairability, at t which point you’ll have to rebuild for way more money.
And speaking of Kitas: we currently have far too few. This forces some parents to stay at home even though they want to work. Borrow money, build Kita, a sizeable portion of the population returns to the workplace.
Better infrastructure allows people to earn more. More earnings is more taxes collected, without raising them on the individual.
Because it requires raising taxes and very few want that. Raise it on just the rich? Even the poor don’t want that because they’re just temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
It does not. Spending money you borrow at an interest rate that’s as low as it currently is, is way, way, way cheaper than going “Oops, sorry, there’s currently no money for roads / bridges / hospitals / Kitas /…” and waiting until they’ve fallen into complete unrepairability, at t which point you’ll have to rebuild for way more money.
And speaking of Kitas: we currently have far too few. This forces some parents to stay at home even though they want to work. Borrow money, build Kita, a sizeable portion of the population returns to the workplace.
Better infrastructure allows people to earn more. More earnings is more taxes collected, without raising them on the individual.