I had an interesting chat with a friend over the weekend who works in the building trades. We were talking about the stimulus plan and what it would mean for his business, which is primarily as a contractor to municipalities. Contrary to what you would think, he said the prospect of stimulus had stopped municipal projects in their tracks. Mayors and governors around the county have put “shovel-ready” projects on the back burner.
Why? The down turn in the economy?
Nope.
They’re waiting for Uncle Sam to foot the bill. No sense building projects that are ready to go (and funded) today if Uncle will pay for them outright tomorrow. Net result: no building now and US funded building later, while local government spends that cash on other “priorities”. The worst case scenario all around.