After the Economic Stimulus Act in early 2008 (which gave us shopping money) and the huge bank bailout later in the year failed to turn around a tanking economy, attention has turned to another massive stimulus bill—one that would fix the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges. At first glance, it sounds good. Public works programs, as we saw in the 1930s when hundreds of thousands of workers were employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), can play a huge role in putting people to work and boosting the economy. A public works program focused on infrastructure could do the same thing.