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It's very difficult to put a direct comparison, because the government usually does not build skyscrapers, and the private sector almost never builds public tra
by scythe 4y ago
It's very difficult to put a direct comparison, because the government usually does not build skyscrapers, and the private sector almost never builds public transit. But you see dramatic shortfalls in US cost and rate on the construction of major transit infrastructure compared to peer nations:
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22534714/rail-roads-infrastructure-costs-america https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/22534714/rail-roads-infrast...
As I detail in a cousin comment, privatizing the construction process itself does not help (and might make matters worse), but it surprised both the author (of TFA) and me to see that the US is competitive when the whole project is privatized — possibly implying that the government is making mistakes in administration particularly.
- wolverine876 4y agoMaybe the government takes on tasks that private sector companies don't believe they can make work.
- scythe 4y agoIt's not impossible. But again, the contrast has four parts: - Eurasian private sector, works - Anglosphere private sector, works (except in Canada) - Eurasian public sector, works - Anglosphere public sector, confounded by cost overruns If it's a simple result of scope, it remains to be explained why similar projects are harder in the English-speaking world than in Italy, China, Japan or Mexico (yes, even Mexico has substantially lower costs!). My other comments in this thread offer more details.