America’s Infrastructure As a National Security Threat

Infrastructure isn’t just concrete and steel. It is the productive scaffolding of civilization.

In 2010, I came across the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. If you haven’t seen the 2025 edition, it’s worth a careful review with breakdowns for every state.

Infrastructure and public works are the bedrock of civilization and national security. Yet formal education in public policy and political science rarely begins here. In my experience, it should.

Any serious public policy discussion must begin with a simple question: 

“What is the current condition of the nation’s energy systems, transportation networks, water infrastructure, sanitation, communications, schools, hospitals, and parks?”

These physical systems support everything from manufacturing to agriculture.

Citizens and journalists should be interrogating elected officials on one essential point: What are you doing to improve America’s infrastructure? A leader’s legitimacy should hinge on their ability to plan, maintain and invest in the country’s physical foundations.

This requires an informed citizenry and media. We must understand what earlier generations built, what it takes to maintain those systems today and how to organize future projects for a 21st-century economy.

According to the ASCE, the United States currently faces more than $9 trillion in deferred maintenance just to stabilize basic infrastructure. If we aim for modern upgrades (think maglev rail, advanced nuclear energy or a North American Water and Power Alliance-style megaproject), the total cost could exceed $20 trillion through 2035. 

The increased productivity and return on investment would help to repay the credit over time but it would be a fight for those who hold the purse.

Who Pays for It?

Cue the predictable question: “But who’s going to pay for it?”

Yes, the U.S. carries a $38 trillion debt with annual interest payments now topping $1 trillion. That is a legitimate concern. 

But we must also remember that during the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve quietly opened credit lines estimated by some to exceed $27 trillion that includes more than direct government bail-outs of the major banks, but also coverage for derivative exposures, off-balance-sheet liabilities, global central-bank interventions and asset purchases and guarantees for the “shadow banking” sector.

During COVID-19, the federal government obligated more than $4.7 trillion across emergency spending packages. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet ballooned by another $4.5 trillion.

And if you happened to be Silicon Valley Bank—with no deposit insurance but the right political connections—you could get a $200 billion backstop over a weekend.

The question of how to finance strategic infrastructure will be covered in future essays. For now, let’s return to the equation: r=S′(C+V)−S 

Constant Capital and the ASCE Report Card

Let’s define the variables:

• C = Constant Capital (machines, roads, grids, ports, etc.)

• V = Variable Capital (wages that sustain the workforce)

• S = Overhead (non-productive costs like finance, administration and compliance)

• S′ = Surplus (the value that can be reinvested)

• R = Rate of Profit

Constant capital refers to all non-labor inputs whose value transfers into production without adding new value:

• Roads, bridges, water systems and power grids

• Buildings, machines and transportation systems

• Broadband networks and digital infrastructure

• Ports, airports and logistics facilities

This is everything that supports labor but does not innovate or reproduce itself. It must be maintained through physical investment, not speculation.

Infrastructure Is Macro-Scale Constant Capital

Public infrastructure determines:

• How efficiently goods and services move

• The friction in national supply chains

• The reliability and cost of water, energy and data

• The cost of time, repair and system failure

So, when infrastructure breaks down, the cost of constant capital rises, overhead swells, and productivity suffers. In our equation, this undermines both the numerator (surplus) and denominator (cost) in our equation.

Civil Engineers Grade the Infrastructure Breakdown

ASCE issues its report card every four years. In 2025, the United States received an overall grade of C. Breakdown by sector:

• Roads: D+

• Public Transit: DDrinking Water: C−

• Schools: D+

• Energy: D+

• Inland Waterways: C−

These grades reflect aging, underfunded, and often dangerous infrastructure. The results are predictable:

• Higher capital costs for lower productive output

• Increased overhead in the form of risk insurance, redundancy and compliance

• Lower surplus due to inefficiencies, delays and systemic fragility

The Drag on Profitability (And Survival)

Through our equation: r=S′(C+V)−S, poor infrastructure exerts a double drag:

Effect	Impact
Higher maintenance costs	↑ C
Reduced labor productivity	↓ V, ↓ S′
Redundant systems and insurance	↑ S
Bottlenecks to innovation (e.g., grid limits on AI factories)	↑ C, ↓ S′

Bad infrastructure inflates the cost base while squeezing the output. This isn’t just inefficient. It’s self-defeating.

The Political Economy of Rebuilding

To raise profit (r) at an accelerating rate, we must approach infrastructure as a strategic constant capital.

Strategic investments include:

• High-speed rail

• Modern nuclear energy

• Next-generation water, sanitation and logistics systems

• Education systems that raise the productive ability of the workforce

Strategic financing includes:

• Use the Federal Reserve to cut federal borrowing and provide 0% federal credit for production

• Penalize speculation and minimize the burden of fictitious capital (think Glass-Steagall)

• Measure returns by physical surplus generated, not just dollars spent

Infrastructure isn’t just concrete and steel. It is the productive scaffolding of civilization. Either we rebuild it (through public financing) or we decay along with it.

Let’s choose wisely.

Follow the conversation on Substack at https://politicaleconomyproject.substack.com/.