In any election for higher office, creating jobs is a priority, but with a U.S. economy as sluggish as this one and weak job growth to boot, putting people to work has taken on an urgent focus. So it is not surprising that President Barack Obama recently has been touting the merits of a national infrastructure bank.

Despite what an infrastructure bank might do to put people to work and improve roads and bridges, the recent debt ceiling showdown is a reminder of just how strong the differences are over how to heal a sick economy, and  it’s not difficult to imagine proposals for an infrastructure bank getting stuck in a political fight about spending and deficits.

That has not stopped proponents of a national infrastructure bank from making their case, and the idea has some high-profile advocates, including PIMCO founder Bill Gross, CNN anchor and Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria, longtime investment banker and former U.S. ambassador to France Felix Rohatyn, a