Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
bloomberg.com
Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
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Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#2Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#3Infrastructure funding is a jobs creation program with an occasional side-effect of providing infrastructure to the public.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#4Because the US has an unlimited supply of the world's reserve currency, so there is no incentive to be economical.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#5Because 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.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#6Because 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.
Local government officials have no real incentive to get the most for their money. They "get the job done", but I really doubt they are anywhere close to efficient
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#7Corruption
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#8Because the US has an unlimited supply of the world's reserve currency, so there is no incentive to be economical.
I respectfully disagree. A lot of the capital projects mentioned in this article (like NYC subway station) are municipal or state projects, which don't have the ability to print money like the feds.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
But the local governments executing these projects have very fixed budgets. They can't just fire up the money printer.
Local government officials have no real incentive to get the most for their money. They "get the job done", but I really doubt they are anywhere close to efficient
I think the mayor of NYC has a strong incentive to get credit for improving their subway system.
Re: Why U.S. Infrastructure Costs So Much
#10I 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