In 1784, George Washington was certain that a highway would permanently unite the nation he had just risked it all for. American pioneers in the western regions were trapped between two world powers as he put it: "the Spaniards on their right; Great Britain on their left." Washington decided the nation needed to "open a wide door and make a smooth way for the produce of that country to pass to our markets before the trade may get into another channel."

So determined was the general that he set out on horseback from his Mount Vernon home at his normal pace of five miles per hour. Surveying the land and its people for the best route for the National Road, the nation's first interstate highway, he journeyed into the Ohio country covering 680 miles in five weeks. The rest is history: Infrastructure, in the form of the National Road, made America stronger, safer, and richer.

Paraphrasing Washington, today we find ourselves with the Chinese to our right and the Europeans to our left. As a result, we need to open a wide door and make a smooth way for produce to pass to our markets before the trade gets into another channel. The problem: The "wide door" we need to swing open is rusted shut. Airspace is congested; the grid is overloaded; highways are rutted; bridges are dangerously weak; over-capacitated sewers overflow into rivers, lakes, and harbors; 7 billion gallons of freshwater leak from waterlines daily; levees are decrepit; dams are hazardous; and our public schools are unkempt.

On an industrial island in the River Pu, offshore from Shanghai, China, ZPMC steel workers prepare to ship a $250 million contract of forged steel to the United States.

Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims, just awarded the 2011 Noble prize for Economic Sciences, are extolled for explaining the impact the global markets have on domestic economies. They have provided evidence of the direct impact the United States has on the global market – and vice versa. They warn us that increasingly, what happens there directly impacts us here. As the European Union (EU) and China build better infrastructure, we lose our standing in the world order.

Today, the sovereign states of Europe behave as a single force. The EU creates one economic force with a population of a half-billion people generating 20 percent of the world's gross national product (GNP) at over $16 trillion. Comparatively, the GNP of the United States is $14 trillion. Specifically, the EU is successfully synthesizing its cross-border infrastructures: toll ways, airports, seaports, and rail lines. Think the Chunnel between Britain and mainland Europe. Adding to the intensity of this competition, Europe has the most educated and skilled workforce in the world.

By physically opening borders and breaking down barriers to internal trade, Europe is outmaneuvering the United States. As a result, the Chinese and Europeans see each others' markets as an ever more attractive place to do business. As overcapacity and declining efficiencies in the United States turn our infrastructure from an asset into a liability, the EU and China are negotiating the building of infrastructure projects that further disadvantage the United States. Negotiations are underway for high-speed train service between London and Beijing, taking advantage of the land bridge between them

Infrastructure and geography give China and Europe powerful incentives to trade among themselves. This is not an original thought. The ancient Silk Road first commercially connected Europe and Asia more than 2,000 years ago.

In 1978, Deng Xiaoping took control of China. He opened China's "wide door" by building up the nation's infrastructure – superhighways, a high-speed train network, and improved air passenger service. Today, China's daily exports equal the nation's annual exports the year Deng took charge.

If the United States is to stem the flow of jobs, currency, and competitive advantages to China on our right and the EU on our left, we better get started in the rebuilding of our infrastructure today.

Dan McNichol is a highly acclaimed author, journalist, and speaker. He welcomes your comments at dan@danmcnichol.com.