Infrastructure is one of the most vital pillars of economic growth for the various countries across the globe. The investments in infrastructural projects such as in the United States of America have contributed immensely to the development of the different sector of the economy. Overall, the growth of infrastructure in the US has led to the alleviation of poverty, which has reduced the burden of the government in reducing the poverty levels in the country by ensuring that most of the American citizens are empowered to take charge of their financial welfare individually. Infrastructural projects in the US have also opened up the interiors of the country to development and access to most of the developed areas. Through that, the entrepreneurial ventures such as those in the rural areas can deliver their produce to the major cities thus increasing the revenue of their businesses and consequently the profits. The government has increased its share in the taxes collected from the industry. Thus, the investments in the infrastructure by the government has enabled the country to improve the economy positively.
Arguably, the improvement in the level of infrastructure in the US has led to the opening up of the rural areas and mostly in the field of agriculture (Pinstrup-Andersen & Shimokawa, 2007). The adequacy of infrastructure has been found to lead to a significant increase in farm productivity in the rural US. The access of the rural areas in terms of delivery of farm supplies and the delivery of goods to the market has been made more convenient by the existence of infrastructure. For instance, the introduction and distribution of more advanced irrigation systems to the agriculturalists in the country has led to the substantial increase in the size of land that has been utilized for farming, which leads to an increase in revenues for the individual farmers and the government as well (Pinstrup-Andersen & Shimokawa, 2007). The article also identifies the other way that infrastructure in the US has contributed to economic growth. The introduction of the machinery to make farming more convenient is incomplete without the education on how to properly use them. Thus, Pinstrup-Andersen and Shimokawa (2007) argue that education on infrastructure has indeed enabled the proper utilization of infrastructural resources that has led to overall economic advancement.
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Pingali (2007) agrees with Pinstrup-Andersen and Shimokawa (2007) on the fact that improved infrastructure leads to the increased agricultural production but approaches the contribution from a different perspective, which involves how the access to markets thanks to the increased infrastructural development leads to economic advancement. The author provides a counter-argument that introduces the reader to the fact that some of the major urban areas in the US such as Los Angeles and New York have their growth attributed to other factors but agriculture. Nonetheless, the author holds on to the argument stating that a large number of states and towns such as in the US have had their infrastructure developed top pave the way for the access to local and international markets for the agricultural sector. In that line of argument, the roads, railways, and airports linking the rural areas to the markets have primarily been developed, and the agricultural returns from the expanded markets have contributed to significant economic growth.
The improvement of the economy by the infrastructural growth is not limited to the agricultural sector and its contribution to the same. Sridhar and Sridhar (2007) explore how the telecommunications infrastructure countries to the growth of the economy such as in the united states of America. The country is internationally recognized for its cutting-edge technological advancement in the field of communications with multiple companies dealing in both computer hardware and software emerging and controlling both the local and international markets. The improvement of the telephone into the smartphone, according to Sridhar and Sridhar (2007), is responsible for the growth of the economy as more Americans join the advanced telecommunications infrastructure. The earnings of the companies in the industry and the amount of money that citizens consume in the digital communication era have contributed to the realization of more economic growth in the country in the long run.
In support of the arguments provided by Sridhar and Sridhar (2007), Holt and Jamison (2009) talk more about how the US government has benefited from investments on telecommunications infrastructure and the overall growth of the economy from the same. The broadband development in the US and its immense contribution to the growth of the country's economy attracted public attention owing to the funding of the stimulus plan, which was authorized in February 2009 in the initiatives concerned with deployment, and broadband planning. Holt and Jamison (2009) state that the importance of innovation for national economic prosperity is evident. A literature survey performed indicated that there exists a link between communication and information technologies and the growth of the economy. Similarly, the relationship between broadband and economic wellbeing of the US can be explained. The expansion of broadband adoption and deployment in the country has had a positive impact on economic growth.
Koutroumpis (2009) talks more about the contribution of broadband penetration into the US market has led to economic growth in the country. The author focuses on a contemporary approach of the studies to investigate how penetration improves the economy. In connection with the growth of technology in the US, more citizens currently own and use smartphones, which have broadband connections thanks to the advancement of telecommunications infrastructure. Koutroumpis (2009) integrates a macroeconomic function of production with a micro-model for the investment in broadband. The production function is used to estimate the implications of broadband infrastructure and development. The author discusses the results of the investigation by affirming that the investments in broadband penetration into the consumer market has actively led to the increased economic growth of the country and especially when there is the presence of a critical infrastructural mass.
Wei, Patadia, and Kammen (2010) usher the readers into the field of energy and power supply as a critical aspect of infrastructural development in the US. The authors investigate the energy efficiency and integration of the renewables and the number of jobs that such projects can generate in the country. Analysis of the job creation model in the US power sector is presented from 2009 to 2030. Wei, Patadia, and Kammen (2010) observe that natural gas and the coal industry are losing revenues and employees gradually. Thus, the American government is set to receive less income from the two sub-sectors. Nonetheless, the development of renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency policies in the country as part of the innovation in infrastructure has led to the improvement of renewable energy sub-sector. The US government benefits from renewable energy projects in terms of the taxes on the growing number of employees as well as the revenues on the various startups in the industry.
Deeper insight into the possibilities of more economic growth in the US from the renewable energy than from the natural gas and carbon-based energy indicates that green energy clusters are responsible for the growth of the economy in central Massachusetts, the United States of America (McCauley & Stephens, 2012). As society benefits from the transition into more sustainable energy with less harm on the society, the creation of green jobs and a green economy has been realized. The green jobs refer to the employment opportunities that come up due to the advancement in the renewable energy field. The green economy is that which adopts sustainability in energy supply as part of its infrastructural goals. The green economy and jobs are considered vital for the stability of the economy at large. The sustainable energy projects in central Massachusetts have attracted many investors due to the projects financial lucrativeness and the consequential economic growth for the state and at the national level. The promotion of such infrastructure favors the financial stability of the whole of the US. More research into the field of renewable energy is set to contribute to sharp growth in the economy of the country.
The growth of cities and metropolises in the various parts of the United States of America has led to the growth of the economy. Hodson and Marvin (2010) establish the connection between urbanization and infrastructural advancement concerning the growth of the American economy. The authors also answer the questions regarding the role of the cities in shaping the social-technical changes and how to identify how they achieve the function. The major cities in the US aspire to develop purposive political and managed transition in the organization of the social and technical perspectives of the residents. Being centers of advanced infrastructure, the urban areas achieve the function effectively and increase the inclination towards technology that has penetrated the various industries to ensure economic growth is realized (Hodson & Marvin, 2010). The article suggests that urban transitions involve significant upgrades in the infrastructure, which leads to an increase in economic advancement from a cause and effect analysis.
Thomas and Darnton (2006) agree with Hodson and Marvin (2010) that as centers of rapid infrastructural advancement, major cities, and metropolises in the US contribute to economic progress. Thomas and Darnton (2006) approach the cities' contribution to the advancement of the economy by focusing on the social diversity which takes place within the metropolises such as the Bos-Wash Corridor and major cities such as Chicago and New York. Social variety within the urban areas provides them with the technology, talent, and quality that are used to construct and maintain infrastructural facilities such as buildings, roads, and rail network, which are all regarded as crucial contributors to the economic growth not only in the metropolises but also in the entire nation (Thomas & Darnton, 2006). The diversity also brings about the difference in the perspectives of economic growth and the role of infrastructure, which encourages the creation of jobs for the majority, and the accumulation of wealth, which both benefit the federal government regarding economic progress.
Agénor (2010) proposes a theory of eventual development based on public infrastructure, which acts as the growth engine in the US. The American government spends on the introduction of innovative health services as part of the investments made in the field of infrastructure thus raising the productivity of labor and at the same time lowering the rate of time preference. Clarke et al. (2010) strengthen the discussion put across by Agénor (2010) by highlighting the development of biomedicine and the equipment involved as significant milestones hit by the healthcare sector. The development of biomedicine leads to infrastructural growth and eventually the growth of the economy from the revenues collected in the healthcare sector and the reduction of costs incurred by the government to provide healthcare services to the patients. From an entrepreneurial perspective, Scott (2006) states that innovation and the industrial development of the healthcare sector in the US will lead to economic advancement. That will be realized through the investments made in the infrastructural development of the industry.
References
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