By Stephen Burke and Douglas Macgregor - - Monday, January 8, 2018
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
When a golden spike was driven into the rails connecting the
Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads at Promontory Summit, Utah
Territory on May 10, 1869, interstate railways annihilated distance in the
space of one generation and transformed America into a unified nation from
coast to coast. The cost for an American to travel across the continent dropped
from $1,000 to $150.
President Trump is in the hunt for a new golden spike that
will make American infrastructure great again. But the president wants to do
more than clean up the “hardened arteries” strangling America’s interior. He
wants to administer “bypass surgery.” In the global marketplace of non-stop
competition, he knows he needs more than a bullet list for infrastructure
development. President Obama tried a piecemeal approach and it failed. The
solution is strategic vision to guide capital investment in ways that exploit
American market advantage in geography, resources, and governance.
Like the Roman state that shaped and led the political and
economic development of the Western world for centuries from its central
position in the Mediterranean, America must capitalize on its enviable
strategic position straddled by the world’s two largest oceans across which are
the Europe and Asian markets. In a world where 90 percent of global exports and
imports move by sea, American naval and aerospace supremacy guarantees not only
American access to these domains, but access for all nations to the four global
commons — the high seas, the atmosphere, Antarctica and outer space.
Beijing wants to build a continental infrastructure of
roads, railways, seaports and pipelines through the string of countries along
the ancient “Silk Road” route — a noble and praiseworthy endeavor. But
conflict, corruption and widespread insecurity across Eurasia pose societal
challenges to China’s ambitions. Nation-state interests along the routes will
drive up costs.
Unlike the peoples of China, Russia, India and Europe the
United States is not threatened by potentially dangerous military opponents in
its hemisphere. North America’s interior is secure thanks to the dominance of
one people with one language, one culture and one law — namely Americans.
These points suggest a blueprint for U.S. continental
infrastructure that rivals the Eisenhower era Interstate system. The golden
spike program exploits the trend toward fast and free logistics through
autonomous systems, improved power storage (batteries), and “next generation”
electric motors. The president can create a new golden spike driven by new
technologies that will do for today’s economy what the steam engine did in its
time.
This time the golden spike can take the form of a
public-private partnership combining capital for innovation with customers
dependent on large-scale logistics. This partnership will hasten the
“repatriation” of American Manufacturing through the development of
intercontinental transport via hyper-efficient sea, air and land-based
conveyances that will move goods long distances for pennies per ton. Here is
how it can work:
1. Connect major manufacturing hubs at home and abroad with
major sea ports and air hubs using a combination of high speed rail, and
hyper-efficient ships that lower the cost of travel. Translation: Link Nantes,
Bordeaux and Brest with Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and Hong Kong
through New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah, Corpus Christi, New
Orleans, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle;
2. Redefine “Just in Time Manufacturing.” Identify and
develop critical hubs and terminals in the nation’s interior to cultivate
manufacturing and restore American national economic competitive advantages
over European, Chinese, Korean and Japanese competitors. The redefinition
includes the impact of 3d printing: Large-scale shipments will consist of raw
materials used for localized production;
3. Exploit “leap ahead” technologies to leverage autonomous
systems that bypass traffic and accelerate movement through the “choke points”
inside the America’s commercial circulatory system;
4. Restore America’s leadership as a merchant marine power.
Building fast ships that operate under the American Flag. A fleet of fast ships
on both coasts would revolutionize transportation, and in time of conflict or
crisis, provide additional seaborne platforms that can forward-deploy missiles
and autonomous aircraft.
5. Augment high-speed rail and maritime infrastructure by
creating heavy-lift airborne freight markets. Airships bypass unneeded
middlemen with the fastest and most efficient form of unmanned “port to
port/door to door” commerce at a cost that is 30 percent less than traditional
air freight. They are ideally suited for remote area delivery. Recent patents
issued to corporations like Amazon and Walmart illustrate interest in the idea.
To secure U.S. economic power in the 21st century, Mr. Trump
knows he must make our infrastructure great again. America’s rise to global
power teaches that American economic prosperity is the foundation for U.S.
military power. The Golden Spike Project points the way.
• Stephen Burke is chief executive officer and Douglas
Macgregor is executive vice president of Burke-Macgregor Group, LLC. Robert
Cantrell of Strategy Innovators, LLC, also contributed.
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