Rebuilding America

Construction has been the engine that has usually brought nations out of recessions. It does not need to be a give a way. A toll road built in 2009 will generate income for years and not increase taxes. Money generated in “good times” will repay the debt. I’m not suggesting the government do this type of project but our government must support the effort and provide oversight to protect us all from the former Wall Street greed.

 All of our state and national parks need construction work. The Blue Ridge Parkway must be rebuilt or repaired and would be an ideal candidate to be converted to a toll road.

Users would gladly pay a toll to drive the scenic roadway with improved public and private facilities.  

Our North Carolina State Zoo could become a world class Zoo attracting visitors from all over the country and world and could be done with a pubic/private partnership using very little tax money.  

Former textile or auto workers can be trained to build windmills or infrastructure for all kinds of alternate energy projects. This leads us back to education and an investment in education always yields huge returns.

What does this have to do with housing and home ownership? Everything! There may need to be some stimulus or incentive to help home buyers or owners with financing but ultimately rebuilding America will provide the backbone to rebuild our economy and all of us can benefit.  

Government polices and incentives to jump start our economy need not be give aways or actions that will burden future tax payers. The latest talk of Federal intervention has focused on the auto industry. The problem may be lack of demand and affordability. If the public does not want the product, or cannot afford the product, no amount of capital infusion will solve the problem. Let’s focus on the wage earner, the consumer, the demand side.  

As the wealth of some people at the top has increased ten fold or even a hundred fold, the average family has struggled just to stay even for the last eight years or longer. Our national policies have helped a few but left most people out. That goes for businesses as well. The small business person struggles while a few large corporations have reaped enormous profits.  

What do we do? First encourage our state and national leaders to focus on the individual and the small business. One hundred small businesses hiring one person have exactly the same economic impact as one large company hiring one hundred employees assuming equal wages. When has the little business gotten help? The large companies and the press along with the economic developers talk about high average wages in the large businesses. This is distorted by a few with high wages but the majority of employee’s wages are lower than the average. Often the large company does make a large investment but then we have turned around and given them a break on their property taxes.  

If you would like to discuss these thoughts, please call me at (919) 770-4883 or send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .