You Spent How Much?

Energy companies have been under scrutiny for their large net incomes in recent years, but as the saying goes, "It takes money to make money." In our discussion of capital budgeting, we note that good estimates are necessary because of the large sums involved. So how large is large? You would think the $28 billion price tag for the Three Gorges Dam in China is fairly large, and indeed it is. But compared to the $116 billion Kashagan project in Kazakhstan, it is relatively small.