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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (794964)	7/13/2014 12:58:20 PM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1579687

>> But it can be an investment. Infrastructure is an important criteria when a business decides to locate. Which is why California still attracts startups. While I do not assert that it is impossible for government to invest, it is mostly true that they do not. In finance -- the REAL definition of investment -- it means money spent in anticipation of a return. The term is also used in economics, which is a far broader definition that means everything and thus means nothing. In my view, investment is spending money in anticipation of a meaningful positive return, and that means that very little government spending qualifies. Bentway says, " ... building bridges ..." is an investment. While it could be POSSIBLE for building a bridge to be an investment, that is neither automatic nor is it frequently occurring. The operative concept is there must be something to suggest that a positive return will occur. A new bridge was recently built over the Mississippi near Greenville, MS on US 82 at a cost of about 350 Million. One might anticipate a return on that "investment", but for the fact it was a government project that included intense amounts of waste and the money to build it had to be borrowed, and the interest on the debt will be a permanent impediment to creating a meaningful return. In particular, I believe toll roads/bridges often are investments. I recall clearly when the toll booths were taken down on the D/FW Turnpike because it was paid for. The PGBT will eventually pay for itself in the same way. The vast majority of government spending is for consumption and cannot sensibly be referred to as "investment". Often, expenditures on education are referring to as "investment" but they're no such things. They are consumption; there is no reasonable anticipation of a return on the expenditure. "Investment" in "green energy", same thing. It is spending. So, there is such a thing as government investment but the hurdles that must be overcome for it to actually generate a return are such that true investment by government is a rarity.