In a speech on Tuesday night to the Master Builders Association, Albanese, who is shadow minister for infrastructure, quotes arguments from both the former and current governor of the Reserve Bank in favour of borrowing to fund productive infrastructure.
Cowed by the infrastructure of purchased argument, Labour fiddles and dithers.
We all know the carriers will come back with the old "But infrastructure costs money!" argument but considering the slow roll-out of FiOS and related high-speed data services, they're clearly sitting on their cash hoard until enough of us complain.
One little college student sits down, has himself an idea, and billions of dollars just rain down from above?!" Of course, there is a much more nuanced case to be made about the crucial role played by state infrastructure (the Obama argument much maligned on Fox News), but something different is at work here.
What is imperative now, he said, "is to try to find some rough intellectual and legal infrastructure in these arguments that takes account of context, scale and intention".
There is the argument that infrastructure improvements and commercial urban development the city has agreed to are long overdue.
Emerging countries that are becoming richer, such as China and India, are now wondering what sort of state they need to meet their citizens' demands for better schools, health care and infrastructure.Indeed, the fiery argument about capitalism prompted by the credit crunch has obscured a nascent, and much broader, debate about the nature of government.
Since projects take time and money to construct, the argument for infrastructure spending having a positive impact on productivity in the short-term is difficult to quantify, though it seems to be able to generate a short- to medium-run boost, in part by raising prospects for near-term business investment.
The arguments for infrastructure are that these projects are an investment in our future.
Arguments for infrastructure investment that carried weight in 2011 will still apply as London's population heads for nine million and beyond and its economy continues to subside the rest of the UK.
