I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
The $1 Billion Lesson in Arrogance (that taxpayers paid for)
|
Let me tell you a bedtime story. It’s about a classic PPP project. However, it’s a bedtime story for the nightmares. It starts in Australia. Sunshine. Kangaroos. And a bunch of brilliant bureaucrats who thought they could outsmart the laws of project finance. The name? Airport Link Tunnel in Brisbane. You see, they had a vision. A tunnel linking Brisbane Airport with the city. As I said… A classic PPP. Except it wasn't. ​ They forecasted 135,000 vehicles per day. ​ They gave a 45-year concession. ​ They put most of the risk on the private sector. Well… The theory of risk transfer works perfectly… until the private sector runs straight into bankruptcy court. By 2013, BrisConnections, the private consortium behind it, was dead. And the cherry on top? La guinda, as we say in Spanish? ​ Meanwhile, the government shrugged: ​ ​ Yes… Yes… Exactly. We keep saying PPPs are about risk transfer. ​ This wasn’t a tunnel. Moral of the story? ​ Sweet dreams, my friends. By the way… Want more brutal truths about PPPs, minus the buzzwords?
​
PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
Hospital PPPs have a bad reputation. Delays. Overpricing. Rigidity. You’ve heard the stories. I remember when I work at ACS that any RFP announcement of a hospital was received as the last Trump’s tweet… We didn’t know what to do about… Let’s now talk about the Alzira Hospital PPP in Spain. Launched in 1999. First of its kind. A full model: Design. Build. Finance. Operate. Not just the building. Healthcare delivery. High risk. High exposure. High scrutiny. And still… It worked. Well… somehow....
Yesterday I learned that the European Union, the climax of bureaucracy in human history, will require passports for all dogs and cats. Some countries want to be wealthy. Others want to lead in technology or AI. Others want to be the best place in the world to do business. In the meantime… the EU is busy with things that will surely make it richer, more prosperous, and a better place to live. I’m telling you this because the EU is not unique. This is everywhere. Every country, government,...
My wife is preparing a yoga retreat. She works hard. She needs “disconnection.” Fair enough. Now… the price? Let’s just say… You’d expect a 5-star hotel. Except the hotel looks… basic. Very basic. And there’s a small detail: There’s no food. No lunch. No dinner. Fasting, they call it. So basically… You pay like you’re getting a Michelin tasting menu… But the experience is: “You don’t eat.” Interesting business model. I don’t know what you think. Maybe you love paying for the “experience.” The...