Because the US has an unlimited supply of the world's reserve currency, so there is no incentive to be economical.
But the local governments executing these projects have very fixed budgets. They can't just fire up the money printer.
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Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
11–20 of 272 posts
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#12Why aren't contracts to build the projects tightly written to avoid cost ballooning?
When a service is to be provided at a certain cost, it should be provided at certain cost. Some contingencies should be built in (if something gets discovered that was unexpected) but how on earth does every municipal project seem to have so much invested in budget oversight and contractors overbilling or needing overtime to make things happen.
If someone is painting my house, I get a quote for the job and the date it will be completed. I don't find myself paying them more unless its for something outside of what we specified together and they quoted.
Building on government contracts should be solid money but it seems like every time the taxpayer gets fleeced and the end result is barely functional/impactful.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#13At least the GLX is a little further along now. The location in the photo at the top of the article is near my house, and the new trackbed there is complete.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#14Corruption
Which never happens in Europe.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#15Both of my parents are in civil engineering and construction in NYC. As an outside observer, what I see is that the management of projects is not set up in a sustainable way and is just bad. The heads of important departments are political appointees. Most of the time, appointments go to political friends, not to competent managers with extensive knowledge of the field. Also, the assignments are constantly changing as elected officials change.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#16Every time any land is going to be developed where I live (Denver/Boulder/etc.), there is always a thread on Nextdoor advocating for people to stop it by raising environmental concerns and putting in a ton of comments. If 1/10 projects get canceled due to individual objections that means a lot of time and money gets wasted. Another 4/10 projects might eventually get built but only after long drawn out discussions and after many iterations to address individual concerns making the project less standardized and more expensive.
The remaining projects that built aren't really infrastructure projects rather they are statement pieces. Instead of building a $200M subway station we build a $1B community gathering area that includes a subway station. The optimistic hope is that these larger projects will encourage public adoption and support for more of these types of projects but in reality their costs spiral out of control and construction takes far too long at which point the public is just tired.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#17Why aren't contracts to build the projects tightly written to avoid cost ballooning? When a service is to be provided at a certain cost, it should be provided at certain cost. Some contingencies should be built in (if something gets discovered that was unexpected) but how on earth does every municipal project seem to have so much invested in budget oversight and contractors overbilling or needing overtime to make thi…
It is easy to say, and tough to do.
Big projects have almost unlimited liability. The entities involved can get taken to court for pollution concerns, environmental concerns, get caught up in local politics. And once something is in the courts, the whole timeframe is completely up in the air.
One of the places I lived had Walmart wanting to build a Walmart Supercenter, and convert their current Walmart into a Sams Club. The non Walmart grocery store (which was garbage in terms of quality and service) and a Sams Club competitor tied up Walmart in court over the status of some endangered garden snake.
It was obvious nonsense, but it would have taken so long to untangle legally that Walmart said screw it and moved on.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#18It’s dysfunctional on purpose. Media is busy with identity politics and trumpism, no checks and balances with efficiency of the government. Doesn’t bring in the clicks. Local media is extinct so local municipalities get a free pass.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#19I was a management consultant ages ago and worked on large capital projects. In my experience (as the article mentions) it was a mix of: 1. Red tape & public "input" 2. Layers of contractors and subcontractors, each taking their slice 3. No real incentives for governments to be cost sensitive. Usually capital projects last well into the next administration. 4. Too many cooks in the kitchen and consultations
IMO #2 takes the cake (rest is all icing)
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#20Why aren't contracts to build the projects tightly written to avoid cost ballooning? When a service is to be provided at a certain cost, it should be provided at certain cost. Some contingencies should be built in (if something gets discovered that was unexpected) but how on earth does every municipal project seem to have so much invested in budget oversight and contractors overbilling or needing overtime to make thi…
This is what I'm also wondering. What is the point of making a contract in the first place if the price quoted is not binding? If the provider needs more material or manpower or whatever than expected, then it should be their fucking problem and not the clients. The possibility of unexpected stuff happening should, of course, also be taken into account in the initial price quote since the provider should be much better at estimating the probability of something happening than the client.