When I rail against anything having to do with construction, friends sometimes remind me that my career rests on construction research. By implication, I am indebted to the construction sector for the rest of my life, and I should thus be much kinder toward my erstwhile benefactors. Actually, I have never been a great fan of the object of my study. Most of my research into the rôle of construction in economic development was not funded by anyone, let alone construction companies. And companies that funded my research were mostly major users of construction services rather than construction companies themselves. Much of my research focused on the best way for owners of large real-estate portfolios to manage construction and related services. Only two construction companies ever funded my research, and they were so large and sophisticated by comparison with other construction companies that they were concerned with their clients’ needs beyond construction services themselves. By and large, construction companies I got close to were much less sophisticated technologically, financially, and administratively than the companies hiring their services. More often than not I found them a bore. In short, I do not feel indebted to the construction sector in any way imaginable. Far from it. Which is why I rail against anything having to do with construction with quite some gusto.