Infrastructure
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure refers to the network of roads, bridges, railroad lines, water and sewage pipes, the electrical power grid, and all the other physical structures needed for the functioning of a modern industrial economy. Although some new roads and other projects are built each year, the crucial need of infrastructure in already industrialized countries is to repair and maintain what is already there. Governments at all levels, including federal, state, county, and local, must budget funds each year to maintain their infrastructure. Failing to do so means risking the deterioration of roads, bridges, and other structures essential to the orderly working of society. The existing infrastructure in the United States has been built up over many decades, and represents an investment by society that probably runs into trillions of dollars. Economists also sometimes use the word infrastructure to refer to the financial institutions that are needed in a modern economy, such as banks, stock and bond exchanges, and the like.