As Washington considers a nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus bill to combat an increasing recession, with billions going to public works projects, governments worldwide will, at the same time, spend as much as $1.5 trillion annually for the next 20 years to make up for a lack of similar spending on infrastructure in years past.

To bail out its economy, China recently announced a $586 billion stimulus package in new infrastructure spending. And, as a new President is about to take power, the United States considers a similar move. However, Japan tried the same thing nearly 20 years ago with little success.