Look inside any economics text book and the first paragraph will say something along the lines of:
"We live in a world of scarcity". This means we have finite amounts of everything including money, which is why it is so important for a nation's wealth that we do things well while providing good value for money because ........
So if you want a poor country then run your infrastructure on intangibles like Lizzie Zoom suggests, like it seems such a romantic Victorian thing to do, where as, if you want a rich country invest in projects so you get a return on investment (ROI) in a maximum of 20 to 50 years. By doing the former instead of the latter each bad investment makes your country poorer or vice versa to make it slightly richer.
"Romantic Victorian thing to do"!!!!! There is nothing romantic (like TB you are hooked on the "Victorian" label!
) in running railways. They should be, with the correct railway management (please read my post on that point) a very effective and efficient method of moving mass numbers of people, 1.8 million journeys (in 2018) and 75.4 million tonnes of tons (2018-19) of freight around the land, with profits enjoyed by the particular railway company. They are a business tool used by the nation for it's business, not a nice picture of flowers in a field!! How condescending!
Without the railways, current, and new, the roads are further choked, but for someone thinking the alternative, the true costs of short haul flying, taking into account the environment, make that form of travel, if it was suitable for the 1.8 billion journeys, to be out of the question, and if it was it would mean the large expansion of airports is required, beyond those already proposed along with the protests. Rising oil prices, along with shortages/threat to supplies, is another consideration to be factored in. Then you have that 74 million tonnes of freight - where is that going to go, and how much fuel is going to be burnt as all the thousands of extra lorry loads sit in huge queues?
So Rod, what do you suggest to keep the UK economy motoring along? If you were in power, instead of constantly critising those actually trying to make a difference, what would you do if in power to make travel of our increasing population not only possible, but completely free flowing at the speeds we all want? Practical suggestions only please, not the political waffle!
If you want to realise your prediction of a poor, third World (!!!
) country then scrap the railways. Choke up even more the roads, then build thousands of miles of more motorways at unbelievable costs, destroying far more countryside and property, and greatly lengthening travelling times. That will knock on to thousands who will no longer be able to easily travel into London, Manchester, Bristol, etc, losing their jobs, with the businesses that relied on the manpower going under or moving abroad.
You put great play on:
"We live in a world of scarcity". This means we have finite amounts of everything including money, which is why it is so important for a nation's wealth that we do things well while providing good value for money.....
yes, exactly, so we should create the answers to move ever greater numbers of people and freight around without using even more of what we have not got.
Run "infrastructure on intangibles"- what ever does that mean? I am not suggesting everything is done without good accounting practice! If you were to just take a little time to fully read my posts, instead of leaping to the keyboard and creating sound bites like that, you will note my severe criticism of the lack of seemingly (we await the conclusion of the review with great interest) business practice, judgement and management. Full, realistic, budgeting and thereafter monitoring and control, with the necessary adjustments, is essential for any business project, such as HS2. Where do you get the idea I do not believe that?
Because you are, like some others, so obsessed and blinkered about this "Victorian" project that you believe cannot make a profit, that you fail to see the much wider picture of the opportunities and profits that HS2/3/4 will give to many communities across the whole nation (once again, a point I covered in an earlier post!). You are accusing me of not taking into account the cost vs. profit? Well forget that one as my business life deemed I had to make that natural practice for me. But in business, and particularly with railways which are long term investments, you MUST calculate the long term benefits, that may well incur tremendous costs like the High Speed lines, but will give, when taking the overall "profits" for the wider communities, the ROC that makes it all worthwhile, but it is the next generations that will gain from this one.
It may have escaped you, and others, that billion of pounds are being spent to completely upgrade the "Victorian" (as is loosely applied) railway system to increase capacity and efficiency. What the HS lines, like the HS1 line in Kent, will be the true 21st century version. Apart from the principle of wheels running on rails, which actually is not Victorian but dates from around 2,245 BC, the rest of the entity is very much the latest technology.
Oh, and what does China, that you correctly mention is displaying great growth, although currently in a dip, make of the "Victorian" railways? They, as at December 2018, now have 18,000 miles (all the UK track mileage totals is 20,000) of High Speed lines, or 66% of the entire world's high speed network. Most of the lines run at a profit, although it cost far less than ours to build due to the openness of the vast country.
Victorian indeed!!