A highway currently passes through a country town. The government is proposing to build a bypass that diverts highway traffic away from the town. Discuss the costs and benefits of this proposal.
The creation of a bypass reflects an increase in infrastructure expenditure by the government, as a result aggregate demand will increase, as per AD=C+I+G+(X-M) therefore facilitating a multiplied increase in economic growth, which will improve the quality of life for the residents in the town and the economy, also an increase in infrastructure expenditure will result in an increase in employment in the construction/planning sector of the economy, reducing unemployment and further improving the quality of life. Also diverting the negative externalities of pollution away form the town reflects an increase in quality of life for its residents. However,
this increase in aggregate demand may reflect an increase in the budget deficit, meaning governments may finance the deficit through the sale of treasury bonds in the private sector resulting in the "crowding out effect" or the worsening of the CAD by borrowing from overseas. Also diverting consumers away from the town will result in a decrease in demand for the towns goods and services , meaning an increase in unemployment and profit for the towns residents, thereby resulting in a decrease in quality of life. Further, in the short term the construction of the bypass will represent a displacement of people from their homes and the reduction of the beauty of the environment resulting in a decrease is social cohesion.
I got a bit carried away, writing too much
, but u get the idea