Politics, politics, &^%#$ politics! Hoover Dam was the official name given to the dam during Herbert Hoover's administration before FDR (who had despised Herbert Hoover) came along and had the name officially changed to "Boulder Dam" . . . Then later, another political official came along and officially switched it back to "Hoover Dam". . . . Today, both names are used all pending the era that one grew up in.
All perhaps due to American companies run by businessmen bean counters. . . . For example, take the auto industry - American manufacturers take the profits of a successful car and issue stock dividends. . . when in Japan, they plow their profits back into improving the successful car.
All pre-deregulation, and before OPEC became politicized - and with the sudden arrival of the jet age, it's hard to blame such conditioned planners for their expectations of soon-to-be air transportation advancements . . . . bu aside from the cheap fuel expectation, few could foresee the immediacy of the coming population bomb.