PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

The article focuses on the public investment in U.S. The term "investment" is frequently used to designate the purchase of equities such as stocks and bonds. In various attempts to look at the economy as a whole, however, a different usage has developed. Acquisitions of equities in new wealth by individual have come to be referred to as "savings"; acquisitions of new wealth as "investment." Should individuals acquire new wealth without a corporation as intermediary, that is "direct investment." The term "public investment" may refer to the value of the tangible properties owned by the various branches of government as of a given date, or it may mean new acquisitions of such properties during an accounting period. For the economy as a whole "new investment" is necessarily "investment in new wealth." But one part of the community may make an investment by purchasing some of the existing stock of wealth from another.