updated copy Flashcards
What is infrastructure?
Includes capital goods which provide services
Infrastructure is long-lasting, space-specific, and associated with market failures.
What are the characteristics of effective and reliable infrastructure?
Physical structures like bridges, power lines, hospitals, homes, and services
Infrastructure must be climate durable and designed with future in mind.
True or False: Infrastructure can be catalytic for economic development.
True
Our economy depends on infrastructure, and it supports essential services and economic activity.
What has caused the increase in risks from disasters from 1980 to 2023?
Billion dollar disasters grew from every four months to every two weeks on average
More people are in disaster areas today and more infrastructure is at risk.
Fill in the blank: Developing countries face an _______ in infrastructure.
infrastructure deficit
Institutions and finance in developing countries are often not strong enough to recover from disasters.
What is hybrid infrastructure?
A combination of natural and man-made elements
Examples include a living shoreline combined with a sea wall.
What are the key challenges in infrastructure maintenance?
Infrastructure is designed to last 50-80 years, but maintenance is the hardest part
Effective maintenance is crucial for long-term functionality.
What can be the consequence of the Cross Bronx Expressway’s construction?
It cut the Bronx in two, breaking up racially integrated neighborhoods
It depressed property values and increased asthma rates due to air pollution.
How can investing in resilience benefit infrastructure?
It can save money long-term by preventing damage from natural hazards
The benefit is $4 for each $1 invested in resilient infrastructure.
What are the three conflicting approaches to ethics?
Moral Relativism, Imperialism, Integrated Approach
These approaches reflect different views on imposing values and norms across cultures.
What is the concept of moral relativism?
The idea that business practices might not be acceptable in one’s home country
This can include practices like bribery.
What is utilitarianism in ethical decision-making?
Doing whatever leads to the most good for the most people
This is often referred to as ends-based thinking.
True or False: Ecosystem services are always monetized.
False
The diversity of benefits from nature-based solutions is often undervalued in cost-benefit analyses.
What is the main criticism of traditional infrastructure?
Typically serves a limited function
Unlike natural infrastructure, which can provide multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits.
What does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs illustrate?
People’s motivations across different levels of needs
Ranges from physiological needs to self-actualization.
What is the significance of the SS United States?
Fastest cruise ship to ever cross the Atlantic
It was luxurious and faced challenges with asbestos removal due to differing safety standards.
What ethical dilemma did Polaroid face regarding apartheid?
Had a profitable deal with the South African government
Workers raised questions leading to boycotts and changes in corporate behavior.
What does the integrated approach to ethics suggest?
Some morals apply universally, but local norms must be considered
It advocates for a balanced perspective on ethics.
What is a key feature of effective stakeholder engagement?
A two-way process that includes feedback from affected communities
Consultation should respect local culture and norms.
Fill in the blank: Effective infrastructure can connect _______ and _______.
products and markets, people
This connection is essential for economic activity.
What is the monetary value placed on life in litigation?
Losses in litigation would cost less than a redesign.
What does Kantian ethics emphasize?
The categorical imperative that all people have intrinsic dignity, human rights, and self-worth.
What does the principle of ethical universalism state?
If bribery should not be a law in one country, it should not be allowed anywhere.
What is virtue ethics according to Aristotle?
The idea that we are good people and should do virtuous things.
