Response to Remington

Abstract

The autumn 2002 issue of JAPA contains a letter from Roger Remington that expands in a useful manner on our article, “Underestimating Costs in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?”, published in the summer 2002 issue. We agree with and welcome most of what Remington writes, including that the headline in the (London) Sunday Times (July 7, 2002) stating that it is contractors in particular who are to blame for budget overruns is not warranted by the content of our article. The coverage of the article in the New York Times, ("Study Finds Steady Overruns in Public Projects,” July 11, 2002), is more balanced and to the point. There, economic forecasters and planners are correctly identified as a main source of cost underestimation, as they are in our article and in Remington’s comment.