Derailing the Boondoggle
A Danish professor promotes a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns in government megaprojects: Use past boondoggles as a baseline.
Featured Articles
Posted 2008-02-08 07:15:00
Income inequality is rising more rapidly within professions than between professions, according to a new study by two sociologists.
Posted 2008-02-14 02:34:00
As some proclaim the arts as ‘necessary ingredients to a successful region’s habitat,’ a cultural studies professor offers words of caution.
Posted 2008-02-20 03:06:00
Economists and experts on aging say we should encourage the elderly to stay, or get back, in the workplace. But many seniors are not doing so because of a quirk in the law.
Posted 2008-03-03 18:06:00
The U.S. is behind the curve in how it manages air traffic control, says the co-author of a new book on air navigation policy.
Posted 2008-03-04 20:06:00
If we taxed corporations on the profit they report to shareholders, they'd lose the incentive to buy billion-dollar tax breaks from Congress.
Posted 2008-03-10 17:35:00
Companies that rank high in employee satisfaction offer better returns to investors, a business school professor says.
Posted 2008-03-21 16:17:00
New York's attorney general investigates possible fraud in an industry built on denying care, and two U.S. representatives want Medicare to have no part in it.
Posted 2008-03-28 19:25:00
During a period of wide economic uncertainty, credit unions and community banks squared off for another round in their competition to continue making honest loans — perhaps for naught.
Posted 2008-03-31 18:07:00
Despite reports of its demise, the gap in wage equality between men and women is still very much alive, reports the director of The Howard Samuels Center.
Posted 2008-04-09 23:01:00
International trade bottlenecks at ports, and the specter of a strike sends shivers through the nation's body economic.
Posted 2008-05-05 12:00:00
With the public sector facing a potential staffing crisis, two scholars have some basic advice for reducing turnover: help public-sector employees like and trust each other more.
Posted 2008-05-19 12:00:00
When an academic gets to introduce his new book on The Daily Show, you know he's reaching a wider audience. A Miller-McCune interview of The Earth Institute's Jeffrey Sachs.
Posted 2008-05-21 16:38:00
Even in an over-retailed America, there are still heavily populated areas that lack that basic service provider of urban life, a grocery store.
Posted 2008-05-22 19:00:00
A Wisconsin couple are starting a local bank with a national footprint and a global mission — serving the deaf in a manner that recognizes their culture and specific needs.
Posted 2008-05-30 23:05:00
Free marketers want the government off business's back, notes a University of California sociologist, but they may not realize how much of the spine is government funded.
Posted 2008-06-09 18:44:00
Technology writer advises public to learn more about driver's license scanners that can obtain and redistribute your personal information.
Posted 2008-06-13 20:25:00
Two economists say increased public health spending may lower suicide rates. But how?
Posted 2008-06-17 19:00:00
A proposed green hotel in Toronto is meant to show that environmentalism needn’t be a money loser.
Posted 2008-07-14 14:00:00
To stave off water crises created by climate change, we need new systems that manage water, energy and ecosystems together. Here's why.
Posted 2008-07-30 16:33:00
In business, we should make money and be a positive force in the community. The ancient philosopher told us so.
Posted 2008-08-12 16:00:00
Corruption and terrorism pockmark the road ahead for international business, according to a respected global survey.
Posted 2008-08-15 14:00:00
Here's how government can help curb America's seemingly endless appetite for "more."
Posted 2008-08-15 19:48:00
From toasters to tipples, buyers ceding decisions to outside advisers.
Posted 2008-08-18 14:00:00
A Danish professor promotes a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns in government megaprojects: Use past boondoggles as a baseline.
Posted 2008-08-18 14:00:00
As seen in our main story on a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns, here's a look at some infamous public works projects and what went wrong.
Posted 2008-08-21 14:00:00
Mike Wallace helps climate-savvy investors determine whether companies will prosper or shrivel as carbon dioxide regulation becomes reality.
Posted 2008-08-27 14:00:00
The government provides billions of dollars in child care subsidies to help move welfare recipients into the work force. Here's the catch: To get the subsidies, people transitioning off welfare need to have a job already.
Posted 2008-08-31 14:00:00
For your Labor Day weekend reading pleasure, we have crafted summaries of recent research papers focusing on unions, strikes and the attitudes of workers. Collectively a bargain, they come to you fresh off the Miller-McCune factory floor.
Posted 2008-09-16 14:15:00
How do we protect the markets from their own overexuberance? By signaling that future failures won't get government bailouts.
Posted 2008-09-24 14:00:00
Scientists are working to put economic value on the natural world, hoping to create ecosystem-services markets that protect the environment. But are they really just putting out a contract on Mother Nature?
Posted 2008-09-27 14:00:00
Two professors explain why small government, loose regulations and an over-reliance on markets eventually cost taxpayers.
Posted 2008-10-02 23:12:00
Critics of 2005 legislation grow thicker as times grow harder.
Posted 2008-10-08 16:00:00
A Miller-McCune.com interview with the authors of the new book Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations
Posted 2008-10-10 22:21:00
As the gas tax seems unlikely to support the weight of America's infrastructure need, novel financing — from tolls, private investors, quasi-federal sources and vehicle transponders — is needed, one expert advises.
Posted 2008-10-16 16:00:00
The 'star' of a new documentary on the national debt says the deficit is still the even bigger threat to our financial house.
Posted 2008-10-16 16:00:00
A documentary film warns that America's fiscal policies are a looming disaster as Wall Street melts down in real time.
Posted 2008-10-17 17:15:00
The fossil-fueled portions of T. Boone Pickens' energy plan for the U.S. have had a rough ride.
Posted 2008-10-20 16:45:00
B Lab wants to separate companies that merely claim they are responsible from those that actually do good in the world. But can a logo really change the way America does business?
Posted 2008-10-21 15:00:00
Gritty Hammond, Ind., and 80 other cities in decline have a novel approach to economic development: They're attracting new residents by offering to pay for their children to attend college. But is a promise to pay tuition a growth strategy — or welfare for the middle class?
Posted 2008-10-22 15:00:00
If we're going to rescue Wall Street, let's bail out the industrial Midwest, too.
Posted 2008-11-01 14:00:00
Two new proposals look to greatly increase the number of people who have adequate retirement plans, one by encouraging workers to save and the other by requiring them to.
Posted 2008-11-03 17:45:00
Analysis: A noted Libertarian political philosopher takes issue with the idea that the parents of market deregulation gave a wink and nod to big government.
Posted 2008-11-03 22:00:00
Latino unemployment already trends two-thirds higher than that of whites — an ominous portent for bad times.
Posted 2008-11-04 17:00:00
Pepperdine University marketing professor Roy Adler helps U.S. businesses take some of the guesswork out of finding customers around the world.
Posted 2008-11-04 20:40:00
Jock Brandis invented a low-cost, people-powered peanut sheller that could raise millions out of poverty around the world. Now, if someone would just come up with the money to distribute it.
Posted 2008-11-12 20:40:00
Our addiction to easy credit — and aversion to thrift — got us into this mess. The withdrawal may be painful for policymakers and consumers alike.
Posted 2008-11-13 18:00:00
Current efforts to cap extreme CEO pay — which may or may not be a problem anyway — may not outlive bailout.
Posted 2008-11-27 13:00:00
A long-awaited oil land lease will bring a windfall to heirs of the Trail of Tears.
Posted 2008-11-28 08:00:00
In a manifesto for sports fans, two professors call for more merit and less monopoly.
Posted 2008-12-02 19:02:00
The U.S. Capitol's new visitors' center, which opened today, came in almost nine times over its original cost estimate.
Posted 2008-12-03 18:00:00
Analysis: Providing care and enrichment to the children of the working poor is a good investment, not a luxury.
Posted 2008-12-22 18:00:00
Bill Strickland hopes to persuade 200 cities around the world to replicate his arts, education and job-training program.
Posted 2009-01-02 20:00:00
Charities wonder if giving donors control over their donations makes for wise policy.
Posted 2009-01-08 17:10:00
Why a low-cost program to educate employees about company ownership could produce huge financial benefits for the country.
Posted 2009-01-19 13:00:00
Energy researcher Jonathan Dorn says he backs electric cars, dismisses natural gas as our savior and reluctantly supports a Big Three bailout.
Posted 2009-01-20 20:07:00
The nation's largest natural gas producer discusses the 'ocean' of untapped product available in North America.
Posted 2009-01-22 21:00:00
President Obama's call for 'green jobs' has created both general confusion and competing interpretations of the term.
Posted 2009-01-23 18:58:00
In a nondescript industrial park near Portland, Ore., lies a solar gem that just might save the American Dream.
Posted 2009-01-27 17:53:00
Analysis: Massive solar projects are sexy but bring a raft of land-use, technical and distribution headaches with them. Perhaps tapping America's roofs could provide some cover.
Posted 2009-02-11 14:00:00
Efforts to align the boss and the shareholder prove difficult to master and sometimes create perverse results.
Posted 2009-02-12 14:00:00
Researchers say America's chronically underserved urban cores are an untapped market that can sustain private investment — and turn themselves around in the process.
Posted 2009-02-13 14:00:00
The economic opportunities found in inner cities should attract private investment, although a nudge from government can overcome traditional inertia.
Posted 2009-02-14 13:00:00
The poor are fleeing our cities, but life is not always greener, even when affordable housing comes with a two-car garage.
Posted 2009-02-20 14:03:00
In a Miller-McCune.com interview, Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund explains why tackling poverty, education and health care during this financial crisis makes economic sense.
Posted 2009-02-24 14:00:00
It could be Key2SafeDriving, a new device that wirelessly links a cell phone and car key so your teenager can't call or text while driving.
Posted 2009-02-26 16:57:00
As Black History Month segues into Women's History Month, it's a fit time to review the challenges still facing African-American women climbing the corporate ladder in the Age of Obama.
Posted 2009-02-27 17:15:00
The consistent correlation between women executives and high profitability.
Posted 2009-03-04 16:30:00
Amid severe economic gloom, some top executives take a pay cut, but it's unclear how widely the salary correction will spread.
Posted 2009-03-06 20:09:00
Facing a technological arms race over billing, doctors score a win over insurers but are nowhere close to even par.
Posted 2009-03-11 16:25:00
If you're looking for someone to blame for the subprime mortgage fiasco, don't stop at George Bush. Go all the way back to Herbert Hoover.
Posted 2009-03-11 23:30:00
Among financial services firms, those who ranked near the bottom on ethics scoreboards are near the top in the tsunami of financial crisis headlines.
Posted 2009-03-11 23:44:00
The United States has lagged behind other industrialized countries in providing high-speed rail, but the stimulus package includes a big boost advocates have been praying for.
Posted 2009-03-14 15:00:00
Thousands of Americans are defying eviction notices and exercising civil disobedience.
Posted 2009-03-31 21:16:00
Three innovators have created an approach that has greatly reduced — and just might end — homelessness.
Posted 2009-04-03 23:06:00
While legislation about improving trade ties to Cuba grabs headlines, a lot is going on under the embargo's radar, say tipsters at a Miami trade expo.
Posted 2009-04-09 17:58:00
The Yale economist known as a bubble-popper extraordinaire is bullish on tomorrow, even if that tomorrow may be a decade away.
Posted 2009-04-11 12:00:00
The editor of Public Policy & Aging Report asks if tax regimes set up when the words 'elderly' and 'poor' were nearly synonymous may have outlived their good intentions.
Posted 2009-04-23 19:00:00
Update: A political economist argues our high levels of consumer debt derive more from political decisions than from economic conditions.
Posted 2009-04-28 12:00:00
Amid the destruction wrought by the global financial crisis, should American colleges and universities be seeking a bailout plan of their own?
Posted 2009-04-28 17:00:00
Our spinogram allows you to watch the U.S. economy change before your very eyes.
Posted 2009-05-05 12:00:00
Regulators in car-mad California have made a statement about reducing carbon in the atmosphere, and while its specifics have their critics, expect the rest of the nation to grudgingly follow along.
Posted 2009-05-12 16:20:00
In extolling human rights, the U.S. has traditionally pursued the ones that don't cost any money with greater vigor, even as its rhetoric suggests something different.
Posted 2009-05-29 22:15:00
In a new book that questions the concept of 'class war,' two academics argue that income inequality is not a partisan issue but an American problem, and that citizens should 'make a ruckus' about it.
Posted 2009-06-10 16:05:00
Do exports of water-intensive crops hurt drought-prone California?
Posted 2009-06-12 16:25:00
Is fancy-schmancy, fair-trade, shade-grown, bird-friendly, etc., etc., specialty coffee better for the planet's climate, too?
Posted 2009-06-17 13:00:00
Before the U.S. responds to 'drill, baby, drill' campaign rhetoric with more offshore energy exploration, it should revise Reagan-era leasing and royalty rules that cost the Treasury billions.
Posted 2009-06-24 15:45:00
The digital revolution lets antiquities forgers sell their 'replicas' worldwide, unintentionally undermining the black market in looted artifacts.
Posted 2009-06-24 19:55:00
Venture capitalist Woody Tasch has a down-to-earth approach — literally — for fixing what's eating the economy.
Posted 2009-06-26 12:00:00
Feed-in tariffs grow green power but may fall victim to energy politics, German-style.
Posted 2009-07-01 19:00:00
The Germans already have a program for taking gas guzzlers off the road and replacing them with shiny new cars, but there are some bumps in the road.
Posted 2009-07-14 12:00:00
An experiment in subsidizing school lunches to use locally raised commodities pays off both in the cafeteria and in the regional economy, one study finds.
Posted 2009-07-14 21:00:00
Author Steven Greenhouse's Rx for better workplaces: tougher enforcement and friendlier policies.
Posted 2009-07-23 16:00:00
Opponents and (the much quieter) partisans of tax havens both see their causes as 'leveling playing fields,' but they seem to be playing different games, one featuring U.S. taxpayers and the other international tax rates.
Posted 2009-07-27 23:18:00
A stimulus package launches with low hopes for qualitatively changing the pace of car buying and little real expectation of cleaning up the air.
Posted 2009-07-28 19:45:00
We predicted that Hispanics would feel more pain jobwise this recession than some other demographic groups. We were right.
Posted 2009-08-05 19:35:00
The Kindle and its kin, like the newly announced Sony e-readers, will undoubtedly change the face of publishing in time, but the Delphic pronouncements of its partisans may be a tad overblown.
Posted 2009-08-06 21:30:00
America's way of providing medical care has an Achilles' heel — not in the operating room or the pharmacy, but at the oil well and the refinery.
Posted 2009-08-07 12:00:00
While the corn ethanol bubble has pretty much popped, serious efforts to find an economically sound and carbon-smart biological-based fuel continue.
Posted 2009-08-20 12:00:00
There appear to be cheaper, more effective ways to improve education in developing nations than the glitzy One Laptop per Child program.
Posted 2009-08-22 12:00:00
Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein has been following Wal-Mart for half a decade now, and he believes changes in China, and not in the domestic landscape, may force its day of reckoning.
Posted 2009-09-15 14:00:00
Intercity bus service is on the rebound in the U.S. thanks to some spiffy new competitors, but only half the country has gotten on board so far.
Posted 2009-09-18 21:55:00
Arcane bits of the tax code provide a huge tacit subsidy for the producers of fossil fuels, according to a recently released study.
Posted 2009-09-19 12:00:00
Solar power's portability has made it a go-to technology for projects out in the boonies, like oil production.
Posted 2009-09-21 12:00:00
A new study calls for standardizing aircraft maintenance across the globe, but until then, says one co-author, the answer just might be yes.
Posted 2009-09-24 19:00:00
Drivers aren't singing the blues so much about high-intensity headlights these days, but a smarter version of them might really light up their driving lives.
Posted 2009-09-25 12:00:00
Famed for building homes for the poor from scratch, Habitat for Humanity sees a silver lining to thousands of foreclosed homes available for a pittance.
Posted 2009-09-26 12:00:00
Industry responds to produce safety scares with a tracking system from farm to fork.
Posted 2009-10-06 09:02:00
Positive Train Control — technology that adheres to the simple premise that there should only be one train to one track — is still years away from full implementation in the U.S.
Posted 2009-10-09 22:48:00
Members of the music industry reflect on making their green good intentions a marketable proposition.
Posted 2009-10-20 05:00:00
A financial stimulus for the recession-battered middle class: pot farming.
Posted 2009-10-21 05:00:00
The Obama administration has a mortgage refinancing program that needs some tuning.
Posted 2009-10-21 12:00:00
In a follow-up to a story we published in March, our featured homeowner still lives defiantly without payments or eviction for more than a year.
Posted 2009-10-22 15:58:00
A libertarian look at the current pay kerfuffle for financial services companies suggests regulating executive compensation will not produce healthier capitalism.
Posted 2009-10-23 15:00:00
A new survey indicates broad interest, but not commitment, in purchasing an electric vehicle.
Posted 2009-10-24 05:00:00
Late urban champion's notions about decline and imports newly resonant during this recession.
Posted 2009-11-03 23:51:36
Researchers looking at al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein explore why it is that people often steadfastly believe something even when they've been shown it ain't so.
Posted 2009-11-05 15:00:00
Adobe's laudable push for open government butts up against the difficulty that machines have sussing out what's in its products.
Posted 2009-11-14 05:00:24
Blog chatter has helped flat-lining album sales, but does that chatter even matter?
Posted 2009-11-17 09:00:25
The documentary "The End of Poverty?" takes an impassioned if clunky look at international capitalism over the last half millennium. Guess what it finds?
Posted 2009-11-19 12:45:31
Forget black and white — the new police car in development by Carbon Motors Corporation has green written all over it.
Posted 2009-11-20 19:33:59
Things are tough all over, but the National League of Cities suggests when improvement comes, cities may be among the last to know.
Posted 2009-11-24 01:11:26
The miracle berry’s astounding ability to turn the sour sweet makes it a party favorite, but its properties may help dieters and cancer patients, too.
Posted 2009-12-01 10:20:37
Becoming a captain of industry suggests you've probably sailed a bit too closely to the ethical shoals, a new study suggests.
Posted 2009-12-03 05:00:58
Might a cooperative model that arose from ashes of a civil war serve the Rust Belt economies of America's Midwest?
Posted 2009-12-07 05:00:44
Not surprisingly, bankruptcy filings are on the rise and likely to increase. Is the 2005 bankruptcy reform act helping, hindering or neutral in this instance?
Posted 2009-12-10 05:00:53
Climate legislation says we can stop global warming, improve our soils and help our farmers all at once. Not so fast.
Posted 2009-12-11 15:30:37
The world of carbonate chemistry is rocking over claims that a new kind of cement can sequester carbon.
Posted 2009-12-15 05:00:36
Can the unusual politics, economics and culture of the Alaskan salmon trade serve as a model for sustainable world fisheries?
Posted 2009-12-16 05:00:53
Federal plans for a green economic revolution need more discipline — and a long-term partnership with the venture capitalists who know startup winners from losers.
Posted 2009-12-21 11:00:12
Beyond the humanity, there's a business case for tackling the persistent gap in health for most U.S. minorities.
Posted 2009-12-30 12:50:01
The passing year has brought some technology and good ideas that just may improve the delivery of government services in the United States.
Posted 2010-01-13 14:14:51
New research shows that when corporations relocate their headquarters to new cities, they bring with them millions of dollars in charitable contributions.
Posted 2010-01-13 17:12:36
A national gathering of transportation wonks try to square the circle, fitting private cars into a low-carbon economy.
Posted 2010-01-15 05:00:40
Lots of urban kids are flocking to eat crappy food peddled by corner stores, but both kids and vendors can be shown a more nutritious way.
Posted 2010-01-15 14:05:33
Predicting a blockbuster movie's financial returns is more often based on gut instinct than scientific modeling — unless you develop data-crunching super software.
Posted 2010-01-16 05:00:23
Exceptionally cold temperatures and a vicious bacterium are giving the Sunshine State's citrus trees a battle, but science in on the oranges' side.
Posted 2010-01-21 05:00:12
Recycling is leveling off, trash is piling up and cities are broke. In a throwaway society, who should pay for waste disposal?
Posted 2010-01-24 05:00:25
If you commit to a public service salary for 10 years, the government will forgive your student loans.
Posted 2010-01-25 12:05:39
Rural electrification using solar energy may find a match made in heaven when linked to drip irrigation.
Posted 2010-01-27 15:10:22
Rebates for energy-efficient appliances don't stand up to the economic analysis that, until now, no one bothered to do.
Posted 2010-01-29 05:00:45
The real meaning of the fair trade label on your gourmet coffee.
Posted 2010-02-03 10:02:58
Only 40 mpg by 2035? Current policy ensures long-term oil imports.
Posted 2010-02-03 17:45:26
A new book on the discount chain’s down-home early days doesn’t tell us much about its status as the world’s largest — and most controversial — retailer.
Posted 2010-02-08 11:11:07
Blocks of ice are joining molten salt and compressed air as ways to deliver yesterday's energy when it's wanted today.
Posted 2010-02-09 05:00:57
An inexpensive part of the federal effort to dig America out of the subprime crisis appears to have promise.
Posted 2010-02-12 05:00:01
Depression-era health solution may find new favor in the modern American struggle for health care change.
Posted 2010-02-15 05:00:13
In this 'Wonks Gone Wild,' researchers say the hierarchical role-playing in Mardi Gras parades gave way to a free marketplace for beads, which included 'negotiated transactions.'
Posted 2010-02-22 05:00:15
A slew of good ideas, from high-tech UAVs to just leaving a hose out for firefighters, may help in battling tomorrow’s brush fires.
Posted 2010-03-04 16:05:56
One way for the U.S. Postal Service to save itself might be for letter carriers to lay down their bags.
Posted 2010-03-05 05:00:09
Graph shows that the U.S. government's effort to shift car buyers to higher-efficiency vehicles was anything but a "Buy American" campaign.
Posted 2010-03-05 11:00:54
Globally, moviegoers' tastes are becoming increasingly homogeneous, which is a very good sign for Hollywood.
Posted 2010-03-06 05:00:04
Research studies differ on the effect of an Oscar on a film's bottom line.
Posted 2010-03-07 05:00:21
A new study reveals that U.S. companies are less likely to accept financial risks when they are based in communities where religion is important.
Posted 2010-03-12 12:56:16
Wines made from organic grapes are often high-quality, but a new study suggests the eco-friendly label is a turn-off.
Posted 2010-03-12 14:00:51
Bottom-up campaigns to educate seafood lovers and sellers about what species are in trouble haven’t turned the tide yet, but there’s still hope they’ll help.
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- 2 Snowmaggedon Backs All Climate Change Views
- 3 Get Politically Engaged, Get Happy?
- 4 The Story of P(ee)
- 5 Why Have Women Magicians Vanished?
- 6 How to Film Nazis
- 7 Social Scientists Under Fire
- 8 Valentine's Day in the Lab
- 9 Unmasking Mardi Gras Deviants
- 10 Toxicology of the Tiny
