Where Has All the Infrastructure Gone? | Episode 55 | Everything is Everything

It is considered a truism that building infrastructure is always great for the economy. Roads, ports, airports & bridges always have huge positive externalities. But is this truism true? Yes -- and no. There is a good story; and there is a bad story. Welcome to Episode 55 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay talks about how infrastructure enabled a services revolution in India -- but did not move the needle when it became to goods. What's more, while big infrastructure projects once gave us great bang for the buck, that is no longer true. We need to think about why that is the case -- and where our money is best spent. If you like watching Everything is Everything, please like, subscribe, share, comment. :) TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging 00:13 Introduction: Out of the Comfort Zone 05:25 Chapter 1: Why Infrastructure Matters 12:20 Chapter 2: Our Services Boom 19:07 Chapter 3: The Bad Story is the Goods Story 29:35 Chapter 4: The Road to Roads to Nowhere 50:11 Chapter 5: What Is the Core Problem? 55:20 Chapter 6: Ajay Recommends 59:56 Chapter 7: Amit Recommends USEFUL RESOURCES: 1. Amit on Twitter:   / amitvarma   2. Ajay on Twitter:   / ajay_shah   3. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit's audio podcast: https://seenunseen.in/ (Also on all podcast apps. And YouTube, though less than 1% of listens come from here:    / @theseenandtheunseen  ) 4. Ajay's organisation, XKDR Forum, on YouTube:    / @xkdr   5. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah: https://amzn.eu/d/hwGILb3 6. The Art of Clear Writing -- Amit's writing course: https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/ 7. The India Uncut Newsletter -- Amit's newsletter at https://indiauncut.substack.com/ 8. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything:    • A Deep Dive Into Education | Episode 54 | ...   9. The Four Quadrants of Conformism -- Paul Graham: https://www.paulgraham.com/conformism... 10. The Life and Times of Chess -- Episode 52 of Everything is Everything:    • The Life and Times of Chess | Episode 52 |...   11. How Family Firms Evolve -- Episode 34 of Everything is Everything:    • How Family Firms Evolve | Episode 34 | Eve...   12. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything:    • From Imperial to Adaptive Firms | Episode ...   13. Graduating to Globalisation -- Episode 48 of Everything is Everything:    • Graduating to Globalisation | Episode 48 |...   14. The Long Road to Change -- Episode 36 of Everything is Everything:    • The Long Road to Change | Episode 36 | Eve...   15. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything:    • Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH | Ep...   16. That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen -- Frédéric Bastiat: http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html 17. Public Finance at XKDR: https://www.xkdr.org/field/public-fin... 18. Where Has All the Education Gone? -- Lant Pritchett: https://tinyurl.com/mrxxh787 19. Young Rural Women in India Chase Big-City Dreams -- Ellen Barry: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/wo... 20. Follow-Up: A New Ending in Tale of Young Woman From Rural India -- Ellen Barry: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/in... 21. Sowmya Dhanaraj Is Making a Difference — Episode 380 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 380: Sowmya Dhanaraj Is Making a Differ...   22. The Odd Woman and the City -- Vivian Gornick: https://amzn.in/d/0hxh7mnV 23. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya):    • Ep 259: The Loneliness of the Indian Woman   Produced by Amit Varma Shot by Vaishnav Vyas and Nomsita MS Haritashya:   / vaishnav.vyas   Edited by Nomsita MS Haritashya:   / nomsitaharitashya   Thanks to Gaurav Chintamani for helping with sound:   / gaurav_chintamani   Chapter image by Simahina:   / i_am_simahina