Some reasons that almost certainly contribute to the ballooning costs of US infrastructure, although I cannot really tell what the impact is: 1) Not Invented H

Some reasons that almost certainly contribute to the ballooning costs of US infrastructure, although I cannot really tell what the impact is: 1) Not Invented Here syndrome. This pervades the US, not just in infrastructure, but it stands out in infrastructure simply because of how backwards US infrastructure is relative to most of the rest of the world (and not just rich countries). US infrastructure planning seems to exist in a vacuum, and pretends the rest of the world doesn't exist. Heck, it gets even worse and one district will pretend that a project conducted in a neighboring district didn't exist. Therefore American infrastructure planning never learns best practices from the rest of the world, repeat mistakes everyone else has made, refuses to use standard parts and products leading to much more expensive customized parts and products, refuses to use standardized plans, requiring expertise to build out customized plans, etc. 2) American infrastructure supporters are so starved of any infrastructure investment that they've made the spending of money an end in itself. So unlike infrastructure supporters in the rest of the world, who in addition to lobbying for more funding also try to ensure better plans so they get the most bang for the buck, American infrastructure supporters spend most of their time in just raising money. This has been shifting, thankfully, but it's still a process that's moving too slowly. 3) Not building infrastructure. The US simply hasn't built infrastructure in a while, so it lacks the expertise, logistics, and manufacturing capabilities to do this cheaply. Combined with #1 where the US refuses to seek help from outside, this is a recipe for bloated costs. 4) Patchwork of Regulations. But not the way you think. The US has far fewer regulations than many countries that build infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of the US. But the US has random regulations spread across every level. A tiny neighborhood will set standards based on no expertise whatsoever. Navigating this patchwork of regulations and approvals, etc., is a nightmare. Americans like to defend it as "democracy", but it's really a parody of democracy.