In Five Points the Government MUST Consider Before Doling Out Billions to the Construction Industry construction expert Barry LePatner has this to say:
He speaks, of course, of the "bailout" money poured into America's financial and automotive industries—industries whose inept and inefficient ways have, to date, prevented the funds from benefitting the American people. And he insists that, sadly, the construction industry is no better. In fact, as amazing as it may seem, it could be even worse!Excerpted from The American Surveyor.
"When you give money to an industry that, according to recent studies, wastes upwards of $120 billion a year, and don't take the steps necessary to ensure it's used wisely, you are going to end up once again with no ROI," he warns. "That's the stark reality. And for taxpayers already saddled with a terrible economy and a crushing mountain of national debt, this is bad news indeed."
The construction industry's woes are at the center of LePatner's latest book. In it he lays out the industry's biggest problems: rampant cost overruns and missed (in some cases by several years) project deadlines. Grim as it may sound, he predicts that the construction industry will fritter away the $48 billion allotted on projects that may well get underway—but will be abandoned before they're ever finished.
"To advance billions in infrastructure funds for needed roads and bridges only to find we run out of money before they are completed is totally wasteful," says LePatner. "The amount of money being doled out for these projects is finite. Once it's gone, it's gone. Unfortunately, it's highly likely that it will be wasted, and we will end up with a nation of under-maintained highways and byways and useless, only partially completed bridges and roads. Frankly, before infrastructure repairs can be made in a cost-effective and efficient way—both crucial for the current state of the nation—the construction industry must make more than a few repairs of its own.
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