  This paper takes stock of megaproject management, an emerging and hugely
costly field of study. First, it answers the question of how large megaprojects
are by measuring them in the units mega, giga, and tera, concluding we are
presently entering a new "tera era" of trillion-dollar projects. Second, total
global megaproject spending is assessed, at USD 6-9 trillion annually, or 8
percent of total global GDP, which denotes the biggest investment boom in human
history. Third, four "sublimes" - political, technological, economic, and
aesthetic - are identified to explain the increased size and frequency of
megaprojects. Fourth, the "iron law of megaprojects" is laid out and
documented: Over budget, over time, over and over again. Moreover, the
"break-fix model" of megaproject management is introduced as an explanation of
the iron law. Fifth, Albert O. Hirschman's theory of the Hiding Hand is
revisited and critiqued as unfounded and corrupting for megaproject thinking in
both the academy and policy. Sixth, it is shown how megaprojects are
systematically subject to "survival of the unfittest," explaining why the worst
projects get built instead of the best. Finally, it is argued that the
conventional way of managing megaprojects has reached a "tension point," where
tradition is challenged and reform is emerging.
