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Has corruption, graft and mismanagement increased so sharply over the last few decades? I don't picture, say, the NYC of Robert Moses as being particularly fre

Has corruption, graft and mismanagement increased so sharply over the last few decades? I don't picture, say, the NYC of Robert Moses as being particularly free of corruption and graft. And yet, they seem to have been able to build Subways much cheaper

lotsofpulp 7y ago
Defined benefit pensions are sucking up a lot of resources, as well as fire code/ADA related costs. I’m sure labor costs much more than in decades before, not just in construction, but in permitting and planning. As the years go on, projects with large liabilities have to go to extreme lengths to show they did their due diligence. Otherwise, it’s a ripe for a lawsuit that says “well you knew that risk existed and did nothing to prevent it” and pays out a few million taxpayer dollars.
Gibbon1 7y ago
My working theory is graft and corruption can coexist with effective management of projects. I also have an impression that the US mostly stopped building infrastructure like subways which has various negative effects. Lack of experienced engineering oversight, lack of local engineering talent, no experienced workforce. Weak industrial capability and support. And milking to death any projects that do get through the approval process.
- TylerE 7y ago
  Wonder how much of it is not treating workers like disposable things? Look at pictures of work crews back in the 30s and you see workers eating lunch - completely unharnessed - on exposed beams 100s of feet in the air. Deaths were common on large projects.
  - simplicio 7y ago
    Better worker safety certainly accounts for some increase in costs. But US infrastructure costs aren't only high compared to the past, they're high compared to other modern developed countries. I don't think Spain, for example, is keeping their costs relatively low by treating their construction workers as cannon-fodder.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- zanny 7y ago
  China built its entire commuter train network in the last ~20 years from almost nothing and now have more track laid than any country by far while doing it for magnitudes less than the US. If a country that was suffering a self-implied famine killing tens of millions just half a century ago could go from that to high speed rail across half a continent then maybe the foremost superpower for going on a century could think about building a high speed train line anywhere in this century.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

Defined benefit pensions are sucking up a lot of resources, as well as fire code/ADA related costs. I’m sure labor costs much more than in decades before, not just in construction, but in permitting and planning. As the years go on, projects with large liabilities have to go to extreme lengths to show they did their due diligence. Otherwise, it’s a ripe for a lawsuit that says “well you knew that risk existed and did nothing to prevent it” and pays out a few million taxpayer dollars.

Gibbon1 7y ago

My working theory is graft and corruption can coexist with effective management of projects. I also have an impression that the US mostly stopped building infrastructure like subways which has various negative effects. Lack of experienced engineering oversight, lack of local engineering talent, no experienced workforce. Weak industrial capability and support. And milking to death any projects that do get through the approval process.

TylerE 7y ago
Wonder how much of it is not treating workers like disposable things? Look at pictures of work crews back in the 30s and you see workers eating lunch - completely unharnessed - on exposed beams 100s of feet in the air. Deaths were common on large projects.
- simplicio 7y ago
  Better worker safety certainly accounts for some increase in costs. But US infrastructure costs aren't only high compared to the past, they're high compared to other modern developed countries. I don't think Spain, for example, is keeping their costs relatively low by treating their construction workers as cannon-fodder.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
zanny 7y ago
China built its entire commuter train network in the last ~20 years from almost nothing and now have more track laid than any country by far while doing it for magnitudes less than the US. If a country that was suffering a self-implied famine killing tens of millions just half a century ago could go from that to high speed rail across half a continent then maybe the foremost superpower for going on a century could think about building a high speed train line anywhere in this century.