A Broadband Stimulus Plan

[Commentary] Although demand for communications services is rising, employment in the field is falling. This shortfall in communications jobs, however, need not be permanent. A new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, to be released on Jan. 7, suggests that government fiscal stimulus, directed toward improving the broadband infrastructure, can go a long way toward boosting communications-related jobs. Remember that the auto industry had its infrastructure—highways and streets—built and maintained by the government. Consider this: In 1965, as the interstate highway building boom was winding down, government at all levels spent roughly $12 billion on highway and street construction and maintenance, paid for in large part by gas taxes and other motor vehicle fees. The total wholesale value of new cars, trucks, and buses the same year was only about $22 billion. In all likelihood, if the automakers had been forced to bear the full cost of building the roads and highways, they would have had to charge considerably more for their vehicles. Alternatively, fewer roads and highways might have been constructed, especially in rural areas. In either case, the process of creating jobs would have proceeded much more slowly. Unfortunately, that's the situation of the communications industry, which has to fund its own infrastructure. From that perspective, $10 billion a year in broadband is a fairly conservative investment.