Perhaps that the governments are no longer able to get enough funds for such projects (?)
On the competency topic - I got convinced by Mariana Mazzucato in the book Mission Economy, that public sector is suited for such large scale projects, if strong enough motivation is found. She also discusses the financial vs "public good" motivation of private and public sectors in detail.
A bit late, but perhaps you will find it interesting anyway - I have seen a couple of posts discussing Jason Hickel's ideas on the EA forum. For example these posts are really interesting:
Perhaps that the governments are no longer able to get enough funds for such projects (?)
On the competency topic - I got convinced by Mariana Mazzucato in the book Mission Economy, that public sector is suited for such large scale projects, if strong enough motivation is found. She also discusses the financial vs "public good" motivation of private and public sectors in detail.
A bit late, but perhaps you will find it interesting anyway - I have seen a couple of posts discussing Jason Hickel's ideas on the EA forum. For example these posts are really interesting:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hptEKkvtFgCGeFjw8/the-case-for-green-growth-skepticism-and-gdp-agnosticism
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/RnmsaX5TEDoaH6XcB/systemic-change-global-poverty-eradication-and-a-career-plan