A thought provoking article in more ways than one. It serves to concentrate the mind on the cost of repairing critical assets and much has been said about that. The bigger the asset is, with the exception of the odd 'white elephant', the more critical it is and hence deserves more attention. However, the bigger issue is that the US has failed to learn from other countries, who often have older assets, in how to deal with them in a planned and economic way. My own water company addressed this issue in the 1980s and later, along with the rest of the UK water industry, adopted the principles of 'asset management'. The term 'not invented here syndrome' (NIHS) is appropriate.
Published by Peter Styles, Independent - Consultant (retired)
A thought provoking article in more ways than one. It serves to concentrate the mind on the cost of repairing critical assets and much has been said about that. The bigger the asset is, with the exception of the odd 'white elephant', the more critical it is and hence deserves more attention.
However, the bigger issue is that the US has failed to learn from other countries, who often have older assets, in how to deal with them in a planned and economic way. My own water company addressed this issue in the 1980s and later, along with the rest of the UK water industry, adopted the principles of 'asset management'. The term 'not invented here syndrome' (NIHS) is appropriate.