A new Boston Consulting report on #infrastructure costs has found that while UK build costs for infrastructure are around the same as the US, they are well above comparable projects in #Europe (but interestingly less expensive than #Australia).
Is there something about the #business model (or type of #capitalism) in these three countries that makes such project more expensive than in Europe?
Three terms come to mind:
#financialisation
#rentiercapitalism, &
#neoliberalism (not a term I like)
@ChrisMayLA6 I’m sure you’ve seen this, looks like a good analysis: Why Britain’s infrastructure is too expensive
https://www.samdumitriu.com/p/britains-infrastructure-is-too-expensive
actually I hadn't - on a quick skim through looks really interesting - thanks (and have boosted)
@ChrisMayLA6 yes, there is a difference in how projects work and the role of government in the anglosphere and the rest of the world.
I follow this blog on public transport and I’ve been trying to find a post that goes into detail but this might do as an intro: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2023/08/27/britain-remades-report-on-construction-costs/
In the anglosphere government buys the design and implementation of the infrastructure but in other countries the government
1/
@ChrisMayLA6 in other countries the government do the design and have companies bid on the implementation.
This means the government retain knowledge on what good construction is and can say no to things that might increase the price but a non-professional might not know about.
It also makes the government long term responsible instead of just short term with an external firm.
Complex issue but I suggest going through the blog for examples
@Dave42W @ChrisMayLA6 yes, this is by design to transfer state money (which is also your tax) into private owners pockets.
Very sad to see Sweden go this direction but it is not by accident, it’s intentional.
@ChrisMayLA6 found one about the Nordic examples. https://pedestrianobservations.com/2022/08/29/nordic-costs-and-institutional-knowledge/
It’s worth noting that Sweden is currently transitioning into the anglosphere model which will increase costs.
Also worth noting that Greece, Italy, and Turkey, countries that the north often think of as inefficient, have the cheapest construction costs even when controlled for labor costs (source: same blog above)
@EvelineSulman @ChrisMayLA6 The project i'm referring to (https://transitcosts.com/new-data/) deals with real costs of projects.
Its not uncommon, more like expected, that projects run over budget. But there are still big differences between countries and how the governments (national or local) functions. You can read the authors analysis about why here: https://transitcosts.com/wp-content/uploads/TCP_Final_Report.pdf
Overall, the netherlands are in the upper segment of rail cost:
What the data is telling us Most recent update: 10/21/2022 Here are some visualizations of our data. The data covers only a portion of rail projects in each city/country and, in many instances, is not representative of all the lines constructed in that city/country. Similarly, Phase information refers to the number of phases of a project that
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