I would say that a dollar spent on infrastructure at any time will typically outperform a dollar in tax cuts in terms of job creation, simply because infrastructure spending almost overwhelmingly stays in the domestic economy. There's very little leakage outside. Most of the labour and most of the materials are local, whereas a tax cut could often go to buying things that are consumer goods from outside the country.
But on the benefits of infrastructure as an economic stimulus, that's definitely a short-term argument. The point about investing in infrastructure--and I think it's very important for us to make this clear--is that it's not a job strategy for the next 10, 15, or 20 years. Infrastructure is the backbone of an economy that can create jobs, and that economy obviously needs a competitive tax system, good businesses, innovation, and well-trained workers.
Looking at that aspect of infrastructure, we see that very much as part of the short-term context. You're right. For the long term, we think there's a very strong economic argument for having good infrastructure. It's not so much about how many jobs the project is going to create as it is about how it's going to create a community that's economically competitive.
