With the next White House and Congress poised to push through an ambitious infrastructure-spending plan, what should conservatives be ready to do? What is a conservative infrastructure strategy and how realistic is it in Obama's Washington? National Review Online asked some experts.

Resident Scholar Alan D. Viard

Ever since Adam Smith listed public works as a legitimate duty of the sovereign, free-market conservatives have supported a government role in infrastructure. In the weeks ahead, however, we will need to sound the alarm against excessive and misdirected infrastructure spending.

First and foremost, we must rebut unfounded claims about job creation and economic stimulus. Spending doesn't create jobs in the long run--infrastructure jobs are added only at the expense of other jobs. Although increased spending can boost the economy and provide jobs in the short run, the gains must be paid back when the Fed brings inflation back into line. Demand stimulus is useful only if the boost comes during hard times and the payback during better times--exactly the kind of delicate fine tuning that can't be done with slow-spending infrastructure projects.

Therefore, conservatives should call for scaling back the infrastructure program to include only projects that are good investments, not those that are adopted solely as "stimulus." We should oppose earmarks, Davis-Bacon rules requiring above-market wages, and protectionist buy-America provisions. We should insist that routine maintenance not be short-changed for high-profile new construction. In short, we should demand that American taxpayers get their money's worth.

Alan D. Viard is resident scholar at AEI.