Clarke criticizes congressional willingness to buy expensive military equipment while economizing on the infrastructure needed to support it. Cheap concrete supplies his example: a lower initial cost can mean earlier deterioration and replacement. He connects the continued use of Second World War military infrastructure with the funding then available to build it properly. Repaired or relaid wartime runways illustrate the preference for renewing existing bases. The same argument links reluctance to fund new runways with difficulty dispersing forces across more locations. These examples express a criticism of spending priorities, without supplying a costed comparison of particular construction projects.
Notable Point · 5:18-7:24
Infrastructure spending and the cost of cheap support
The infrastructure critique connects small support-budget savings with repeated replacement costs and the continued use of wartime bases.