There is something so beautiful about the structure of public private partnerships. The public puts up the cash and indemnifies its private partner against a good deal of the risk and the profits…well they flow to the private purse. Check out this article in the New York Times. Yes PPPs proving that the private sector really is a more efficient pick pocket than your typical G-Man.

 

Idle contractors add millions to Iraq rebuilding

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: October 25, 2006

Overhead costs have consumed more than half the budget of some reconstruction projects in Iraq, according to a government estimate released yesterday, leaving far less money than expected to provide the oil, water and electricity needed to improve the lives of Iraqis.

The report provided the first official estimate that, in some cases, more money was being spent on housing and feeding employees, completing paperwork and providing security than on actual construction.

Those overhead costs have ranged from under 20 percent to as much as 55 percent of the budgets, according to the report, by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. On similar projects in the United States, those costs generally run to a few percent….