By Robert Krol
SPEAKING about his ambitious infrastructure plans during a press conference, President Joe Biden recently stated, âOne in five miles of our highways and major roads are in poor condition.â
âMore than one-third of our bridgesâ need repair, and âwe rank 13th globally in infrastructure,â he added. These statements probably donât sound surprising. Americans seem to believe that our infrastructure is, as some people say, âcrumbling.â
However, Bidenâs statements and this widespread perception donât square with some of the governmentâs own recent data.
Letâs begin with Bidenâs last pointâthat the U.S. ranks 13th worldwide with respect to infrastructure. It comes from the World Economic Forumâs Competitiveness Report, which has a number of weaknesses.