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Virtually all of that work is through private contractors (most likely) or local governments. When you ask about inefficiency, what incentives do private contr

Virtually all of that work is through private contractors (most likely) or local governments. When you ask about inefficiency, what incentives do private contractors have to not milk funds dry?

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
There's a fun story in Ash Carter's book about the F-35 project. He wanted Lockhead Martin to start hitting cost targets. So in a meeting over it he warned that the pentagon would be curtailing it's order unless the targets were met. Reportedly the LM executive replied "you tell me how much money you have, and I'll tell you how many planes you get." This apparently pissed Carter off enough to reply "how about none" and walk out of the room to let them stew for a while. Anyhow, end result was a renegotiation of the contract where overruns would largely come out of LM's side. Shockingly they suddenly started hitting the targets. /s It's really hard to structure the incentives right here, and to some extent relies on having government leaders willing to rock the boat in negotiations.
Arrath 4y ago
Liquidated damages for not holding to schedule, having bonds taken, disbarment from future contracts due to poor performance to name a few. However these tend to lead to protracted claims processes and court battles. Not enough incentives, in any case. I do believe that there should be more incentives for finishing under-budget and ahead or on schedule to allow rolling efficiently into the next project. Assuming these aren't perverse incentives that invite corner-cutting, record falsifying, and so on.
ErikVandeWater 4y ago
I ask about efficiency because I'm interested in whether more money is a good investment. I don't really care if the government or private contractors are doing the work. In either case, if the work being done is extremely inefficient, I'm less likely to vote for a candidate that wants more money to spend on roads.
- nobodyandproud 4y ago
  > I ask about efficiency because I'm interested in whether more money is a good investment. Maybe. > I don't really care if the government or private contractors are doing the work. Okay, so you really mean can government do a good job of funding a massive infrastructure project? It can, but everything has been setup over decades to make it fail. Is the government rarely allowed to break down large projects into smaller ones, and bidding happens on each small slice? Why are incentives aligned to hamper this? And how do you prevent different states battling to get a bigger slice, at the cost of others? > In either case, if the work being done is extremely inefficient, I'm less likely to vote for a candidate that wants more money to spend on roads. Increased spending doesn’t mean inefficiency. Not until you factor in pushed-off expenses. If maintenance cost $1.00 per year but rebuilding costs $100.00 after 20 years of neglect; then wouldn’t you say the inefficiency was from the politicians that blocked/prevented said maintenance? How much revenue do our bridges and roads generate? What would be the loss if even 30% of said roads were to crumble overnight? Perhaps it’s just me, but I think being pennywise and pound foolish as bad thing.

Virtually all of that work is through private contractors (most likely) or local governments. When you ask about inefficiency, what incentives do private contractors have to not milk funds dry?

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago

There's a fun story in Ash Carter's book about the F-35 project. He wanted Lockhead Martin to start hitting cost targets. So in a meeting over it he warned that the pentagon would be curtailing it's order unless the targets were met. Reportedly the LM executive replied "you tell me how much money you have, and I'll tell you how many planes you get." This apparently pissed Carter off enough to reply "how about none" and walk out of the room to let them stew for a while. Anyhow, end result was a renegotiation of the contract where overruns would largely come out of LM's side. Shockingly they suddenly started hitting the targets. /s It's really hard to structure the incentives right here, and to some extent relies on having government leaders willing to rock the boat in negotiations.

Arrath 4y ago

Liquidated damages for not holding to schedule, having bonds taken, disbarment from future contracts due to poor performance to name a few. However these tend to lead to protracted claims processes and court battles. Not enough incentives, in any case. I do believe that there should be more incentives for finishing under-budget and ahead or on schedule to allow rolling efficiently into the next project. Assuming these aren't perverse incentives that invite corner-cutting, record falsifying, and so on.

ErikVandeWater 4y ago

I ask about efficiency because I'm interested in whether more money is a good investment. I don't really care if the government or private contractors are doing the work. In either case, if the work being done is extremely inefficient, I'm less likely to vote for a candidate that wants more money to spend on roads.

nobodyandproud 4y ago
> I ask about efficiency because I'm interested in whether more money is a good investment. Maybe. > I don't really care if the government or private contractors are doing the work. Okay, so you really mean can government do a good job of funding a massive infrastructure project? It can, but everything has been setup over decades to make it fail. Is the government rarely allowed to break down large projects into smaller ones, and bidding happens on each small slice? Why are incentives aligned to hamper this? And how do you prevent different states battling to get a bigger slice, at the cost of others? > In either case, if the work being done is extremely inefficient, I'm less likely to vote for a candidate that wants more money to spend on roads. Increased spending doesn’t mean inefficiency. Not until you factor in pushed-off expenses. If maintenance cost $1.00 per year but rebuilding costs $100.00 after 20 years of neglect; then wouldn’t you say the inefficiency was from the politicians that blocked/prevented said maintenance? How much revenue do our bridges and roads generate? What would be the loss if even 30% of said roads were to crumble overnight? Perhaps it’s just me, but I think being pennywise and pound foolish as bad thing.