Largely because we decided not to build public works. When we do get one, the pressure is so high to succeed and to cut costs that people reliably focus on out

Largely because we decided not to build public works. When we do get one, the pressure is so high to succeed and to cut costs that people reliably focus on outsourcing responsibility and notional cost-savings, and then when that falls through on recrimination and fixes. We pressure private profit-seeking companies to make "bids" without putting up any kind of collateral, on the chance that if we did it we might waste money employing some extra labor or employ a union. Something like 50% of the politicians in this country simply doesn't believe we should do anything as a public work. They do not believe in public works. They will actively sabotage public works in the hope that they will go overbudget and prove their philosophy correct. Compromising with these people instead of cleansing their ideology with holy fire nets "public-private partnerships" and "bid processes" and "inquests" and "deadlines" and "being cancelled in disgrace" and thus further anxiety about the next project, but an inability to compensate with higher bids. Things would be a lot easier if we just wanted to build things, and paid people to build things, even if this meant getting into the business of building things. Instead, we want to be dramatic in our compromises, pretend that waterfall infrastructure planning is viable and can achieve perfect efficiency and predictability, treat limited liability corporations as moral actors which can be held culpable for giving us the lies we asked for, and regularly re-avow our faith in the market.