But the Observer's exposé on Sunday of systemic corporate greed and tax avoidance by some of Britain's privatised water companies is also an impressive bit of digging into dubious financial engineering, every bit as labyrinthine as the supersewer the rascals are currently building under London.
To the Editor: Anti-science complaints are most often aimed at the creationism espoused by religious conservatives, but there's rarely a word about the left's dubious opposition to engineering marvels like nuclear energy, environmentally friendly oil drilling, and solutions to climate change that involve technology instead of changes to personal behavior.
In every case, the engineering is dubious, not to mention hideously expensive.
Now, thanks to the dubious wonders of financial engineering, home buyers are exposed to the very same risks.
The MPAA will argue that the software was developed as a result of illegal reverse-engineering (a recent and dubious manifestation of new copyright laws).
Americans are accustomed to hearing dire but dubious pronouncements about skill and labor shortages in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the damage they do to prosperity and competitiveness.
Many mainstream economists do not question the degree of this engineering, even when it is highly dubious.
Predicting the evolution of software engineering technology is, at best, a dubious proposition; most typically, it is a frustrating exercise in disappointment and anxiety.
So far, so dubious, but we could forgive the taint of social engineering if Shakespeare's relevance were not in doubt.
Mr Hamilton believes geo- engineering is a bad idea: politically unworkable, hubristic and ethically dubious.
