Posts Tagged ‘transport

The proposed HS2 high speed rail link between London and the north of England provides an object lesson in Britain’s failure to promote economic growth. It shows how politicians of all parties can profess support for economic expansion in good faith only to fail to achieve their stated objectives. In that respect the discussion is […]

It is hard to imagine a more vivid illustration of the government’s feeble approach to economic growth than its announcement on high-speed rail (HS2). It is certain that none of the much-vaunted growth or job creation will happen during the coalition’s term of office. Indeed it is far from certain the project will end up […]

A snippet from the front page of yesterday’s Evening Standard, a free London newspaper, illustrating a common form of contemporary egalitarianism. Under a banner headline reading “Take the tube to games, ministers” the introduction to the story reads: “Ministers and top government officials should consider using the Tube instead of driving to the Olympics to […]

Anti-growth stance a misty nostalgia, the Australian, by Michael Stuchbury. A rebuttal to attacks on growth and fears about immigration in Australia. Don’t let the miserabilists clip humanity’s wings, spiked, by James Woudhuysen. Advanced biofuels could play a big role in tackling the problem of flight and climate change. Can China be green?, the Diplomat. […]

James Heartfield, writing it today’s Guardian, outlines a model study of one of the many damaging consequences of growth scepticism: the failure to build sufficient homes in Britain. He summarises the process as follows: “first, the announcement that there will be millions of new homes built; second, outcry from conservationists about the threat to our […]

Chris Evans may not support the idea of Ferraris For All but he definitely likes them for himself. The BBC DJ and avid Ferrari collector has just lashed out £12m on a vintage Ferrari 250 GTO. It would be great if everyone could spend money with such abandon.

Ferraris For All was mentioned today in an article by Brendan O’Neill on the BBC website. I was quoted arguing against the idea that the new Lada should be celebrated as a fitting car for “austerity Britain”.

The best economics programme I have seen for ages was narrated by a poet and billed as a science offering. The BBC’s Box That Changed Britain looked at how containerisation has enabled a huge increase in international trade. Putting cargo into containers made the transport of cargo by sea far more efficient. Dock workers no […]

Yesterday I gave a 90 second “husting” as part of an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) event on the upcoming British election. I decided to talk about the “airport test” as a key criterion for deciding which political party to support. My point was that a willingness to build and expand airports was a good […]

Speedy ambition

In: Uncategorized

10 Mar 2010

A great example of ambition from Chinese railways as shown in an article on the American ABC news website: “China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually potentially connecting London with Beijing and then on to Singapore.” Evidently at its maximum speed […]