US Public Infrastructure as Copacabana Skimpy

The American Society of Civil Engineers provides the public and policy makers with a periodic public infrastructure scorecard.  Accurate, complete, insightful - - just like we all remember our report cards from school.  ASCE utilizes a grading scale of A through F.  Some parts of the infrastructure matrix are dreadful - - as in D for dreadful.  Many components of our public infrastructure have a D year after year.  One conclusion you can draw is that D also stands for dull - - report cards modelled after something we didn't like to get in the second grade turns the dreadful into dull (and boring, meaningless, a poor education tool, etc.).  Ten years of a D grade should provide a moment of reflection - - bad student, bad teacher, bad environment, bad parents - - or some optimal combination of many different variables?

The current issue of the Economist has a profile of Brazil's richest man (The salesman of Brazil) - - Eike Batista and his effort to improve public infrastructure in Brazil.  This is the view of infrastructure from Brazil - -

"The EBX empire {company controlled by Batista} reflects Mr. Batista's understanding of Brazil's strengths and weaknesses.  The country has copious minerals; Mr. Batista extracts them.  It also has skimpy infrastructure.  Not Copacabana bikini, but far too slight for such a big place . . ."

If Brazil is not Copacabana skimpy in the context of public infrastructure, the United States is clearly not either.  Nor are we something from 1921 swimwear.  What we have managed to do is dull the public with something no one really likes in the first place - - the report card.  In the age of social media - - with the power of richer content fused with important context - - we still manage to bore the public. 

Dreadful news must not always be so dull - - drop the report card and walk along a Brazilian beach for inspiration.  People understand skimpy.  People will understand skimpy infrastructure.