Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by stevewilhelm 4672 days ago
People fail to realize that the California bullet-train project is primarily an economic stimulus exercise.
1 comments
jerf 4672 days ago
No sale. Economic stimulus is completely nonfunctional when the lead time is in the "many years". The term "shovel-ready" was thrown around a couple of years ago for a reason.

Of course, I suppose you could just hope that you start planning for the project in this downturn, but it'll only start in the next one....

link
stevewilhelm 4672 days ago
Work in the Central Valley, the part of California that was hit the hardest by the recent economic downturn, is expected to start this year.

[1] http://www.hsr.ca.gov/Programs/Statewide_Rail_Modernization/...

link
jerf 4672 days ago
For the economic downturn that happened five years ago. The fact that we still need "stimulus" is itself a pretty powerful argument against its effectiveness. Our new economic innovation, making sure the economy stays down as long as our incredible sluggishness in "stimulus".
link