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POINT
Anna Matas
Professor of Economics, Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Economics Institute (IEB)
Being more selective
The appropriate message for infrastructure policy is no longer a simple “what we need is investment.” An emphasis should be placed on where and how such investment should be made. Not all investment in infrastructure will have a positive effect on our capacity for growth. This will only be the case if such infrastructures offer new advantages impacting our other production activities. It is worth gradually placing more of the cost burden on the user under the principle “he who uses pays” in the case of high-capacity infrastructures. Nevertheless, this system must be standardized across all modes of transport and regions.
COUNTERPOINT
Juan Lema
President, TECNIBERIA
More infrastructure and more engineering
Engineering is the cornerstone of development, technological innovation, and exports, as well as a springboard for international penetration and responsible, sustainable development. It is essential to the transformation of the Spanish economic model. With regard to the total cost of infrastructure, the budget allocations currently set aside for engineering are way below those of other countries in Spain’s economic context (around 3 percent of total investment as compared to the 8 percent to 10 percent common in other nations).