[bmitc]

A big issue at these labs is that there's this idea that people with PhDs think only others with technical PhDs can manage things. Management takes a certain set of skills, and quite a lot of PhDs have zero experience outside of academic environments with managing things.

> “We did not write a very good contract for the excavation,” ... “There were all kinds of loopholes in it, and the excavation company made an awful lot of money off of us.”

Another thing that strikes me is, why is construction in the U.S. so corrupt and such a money pit? I don't think I have ever heard of a large construction project being delivered on time and on budget. I understand construction is very difficult, but it just seems out of control.

[dreamcompiler]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dOe_6vuaR_s

[bmitc]

Thanks for the video. I'll watch in full later. But it is interesting that he opens with The Big Dig in Boston. There have been several counts, including prosecutions, of fraud in that project. It wasn't just because it was complex. There was rampant fraud and corruption. After some skimming, it didn't appear that that video covers that.

I have also read anecdotes about that project. For example, stories of contractors tricking out their personal trucks and tools and booking it to the protect.

[dreamcompiler]

He does talk about corruption a bit but he focuses on other factors more.

[bmitc]

Corruption is bad in and of itself, but it also adjusts incentives. So it ends up amplifying any inherent complexity and challenges.

[lazide]

Complex and difficult to understand projects are also great targets for corrupt actors, as it makes it easy to hide corruption.