Economic impact of historic preservation vs. economic impact of road building

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Originally uploaded by rllayman

From Preservation Action:

Following up from last week ... a few more insights from economist Don Rypkema about the impact of improving the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit (H.R.1043/S.584).

"Every additional $1 million that Congress would appropriate for highways would generate another 34 jobs and ultimately add about $1,200,000 to household incomes nationwide.

But if they were to make a $1,000,000 tax expenditure encouraging historic preservation, that would mean 192 jobs and $6,500,000 in additional household income.

In other words, encouraging private expenditure in historic buildings has 5.5 times as much impact on jobs and incomes than does direct expenditure for roads.

(Wall Street Journal graphic.)