61–70 of 102 posts
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I don't think the bedrock is the problem, it's the layer of limestone above it - that's what everything in the state actually sits on.
I'm not an expert at this, but I did grow up in Florida. I'm pretty certain the bedrock is limestone. It's a Karst landscape.
https://karstwaters.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/US_KARST_...
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Isn't this a predictable failure mode of capitalism and free markets? Entities are disincentivised from preparing for rare and catastrophic events.
No. The building was communally owned by its residents, and they squabbled for years about allocating money for the repairs. All economic systems begin and end with the lament "if only we had more money, we could do it right."
In this case it's hard to say someone else was to blame, because the principals had mostly not delegated the decision, they were literally deciding with their own lives at stake. If it were some principal agent problem you'd find a common excuse: it's the agents fault, they chose in their own interest and not the principals.
And yet somehow they didn't decide to repair the building. So yes, even though we had a bunch of free adults with years to make the decision and the lowest interest rates ever, they didn't fix a thing that represents a catastrophic risk to themselves.
No doubt someone will dig deeper into this and find some way the market was impeded, ideological wars being what they are, but it's hard to see how that would explain away the casual observation that people had the agency to avoid getting killed here.
Note that I'm not arguing for more government control over these things, that tends to create an agency problem. Just puzzled over how it could get to this, and a bit questioning how useful it really is for people to decide these things themselves.
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Similarly, it shouldn't take a security breach for companies to care about security. Poor budgets are what is eliminating the safety nets.
Isn't this a predictable failure mode of capitalism and free markets? Entities are disincentivised from preparing for rare and catastrophic events.
I live in Minneapolis. Back in 2007 the I-35W bridge collapsed, killing 13 people. Engineers had previously reported that the bridge had structural problems. And once the collapse became national headlines news, bridges nationwide were given special attention. It shouldn't take horrific accidents for us to suddenly decide to care about structural safety.
So you want to pay higher taxes? You are in the minority.
> found that the 156-unit Crestview Towers had been deemed structurally and electrically unsafe in January Found unsafe but still inhabited until another building collapsed. Yet more third world conditions in the USA.
What do people normally do to check if a building is facing a possibility of collapse in the near future? I don't think I've seen anyone poking around at most buildings I've occupied before to check for structural integrity.
I live in Minneapolis. Back in 2007 the I-35W bridge collapsed, killing 13 people. Engineers had previously reported that the bridge had structural problems. And once the collapse became national headlines news, bridges nationwide were given special attention. It shouldn't take horrific accidents for us to suddenly decide to care about structural safety.
The problem is the same as it is in IT. Risk management and disaster prevention requires money, which people rarely want to spend. Boards for condos are elected, and they try to keep costs low. No one is going to elect someone who says the building should spend millions to prevent a collapse that they feel is theoretical.
Oh and in a system where health insurance really cared about prevention, they'd pay for everyone's gym memberships.
This is tragic, but hopefully a wake up call. Condos aren’t managed the way other large buildings are. Structural engineers are catching the problems on inspection it seems, but perhaps have too little power to actually make the call on mandating maintenance and/or evacuation.
Deferred maintenance by PG&E, well, the complete lack of maitenance caused the camp fire, the most deadly and destructive fire in California history, in 2018. And freight rail lines are handled much the same way—a major derailment at the wrong place causing catastrophic loss of life is just waiting to happen.
My point, if I have one, is that we only seem to care about these things after tragedy happens, but I am not sure how much will change.
Corruption seeps in everywhere. For more local flavor, the head of the Fort Lauderdale Public Works department quit today: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sun-sentinel.com/local/brow...
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The problem is the same as it is in IT. Risk management and disaster prevention requires money, which people rarely want to spend. Boards for condos are elected, and they try to keep costs low. No one is going to elect someone who says the building should spend millions to prevent a collapse that they feel is theoretical.
And in healthcare. Doctors always shoo me away when I show warning signs. They're not interested in getting to the bottom of warning signs. They'd rather wait until shit happens before they're interested in taking my money and solving it. Oh and in a system where health insurance really cared about prevention, they'd pay for everyone's gym memberships.
