5 ms·

The first part of the 2nd Ave subway line to 96th St in NYC was completed a couple of months ago. The cost of the extension was prohibitively expensive because

• CPLX 10y ago
  > The cost of the extension was prohibitively expensive because of unions. Europe is able to build subways with much less cost per mile than NYC You mean the same Europe that has incredibly powerful public sector unions? Maybe a thing they don't have is a political system run by a group of mindless plutocratic politicians that shout "free markets" as the solution to social problems while practicing crony capitalism. They also don't have the Cuomo family.
  • eru 10y ago
    Yes, the same Europe. I don't know about the French, but the unions in Germany and Scandinavia are quite a bit more pro-business than their American counterparts. Hong Kong and Singapore build infrastructure for quite cheap. And there they don't need to shout about `free markets': the government mostly allows them already. I'm totally with you on the crony-capitalism bashing.
    • sangnoir 10y ago
      > Yes, the same Europe. I don't know about the French, but the unions in Germany and Scandinavia are quite a bit more pro-business than their American counterparts. Why wouldn't German unions be pro-business when labor is represented at board level with full voting rights? German corporations do not consider themselves "job creators" or see workers as resources to be exploited, unlike their American counterparts.
      • eru 10y ago
        It's a bit more complicated than that.