The dream of a canal was real; so were the warning signs about cost. The French Panama Canal project became entangled with severe engineering problems, financing trouble and political scandal.
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Investors were attracted by the prospect of an extraordinary transport route, while tropical conditions and cost overruns posed enormous difficulties. An inspiring engineering plan is not automatically a sound investment.
The eventual success of a later canal effort does not vindicate the financial decisions made in the failed French enterprise. A later successful canal cannot rewrite the losses of earlier investors.
There's a big difference between optimism, concealment and deliberate deceit. The distinction between mistaken optimism, concealment and criminal conduct matters when evaluating responsibility.
What could a skeptical investor have checked at the time?