Our survey looked at several hundred projects in more than 20 countries and we discovered that there seemed to be a formula at work in deciding which projects get built: Project approval equals underestimated cost, plus overestimated revenue, plus undervalued environmental impact, plus overvalued economic development effect.
But during project implementation, when fact defeats fiction, the consequences of this formula are huge cost overruns, delays, revenue that doesnt materialize, crippling debt and often endless litigation to determine who is responsible for the mess. The misinvestments, overspending and financial problems are of Enron-scandal magnitude, though less transparent and harder to fix.