This week the head of the bank of England, Mark Carney, told ITV News Anglia the UK had "an infrastructure deficit in transport and beyond".
That assessment will surprise very few - the truth of the statement confronts us everyday as we sit in traffic jams, crash down pot-holes and spend far longer getting to places than is entirely sane.
Of course, the question is how we tackle the problem, or specifically pay for it.
Carney added for the camera that “what is clear in that the UK is that there is a lot money available for well-thought through infrastructure projects”.
That's certainly the Coalition's view, which it outlined last year, the issue appears to be the transition. Operators paying road tax (VED) and exorbitant duty on the fuel they use could probably be convinced of the fairness of road tolling - if the former was removed from the equation.
However, the prospect of having to pay both at the same time - the spectre of which has been raised by plans to toll a new bypass on the A14 and subsequent ferocious opposition - suggests they'll be a deficit for some time to come yet.
A Conservative fringe meeting (no not to do with Boris Johnson's hair) at this week's Conservative Conference in Manchester was pretty much of the view that pay-as-you-drive is a question of when, not if.
The Coalition's renewed commitment to road investment is welcome, but ultimately it is a stop-gap. Finding a fair and effective way to deliver the road network this industry needs and deserves is what is ultimately required.
Time for our politicians to step forward and deliver that well thought-through funding plan Carney believes is out there.