London Banter - View Single Post - Heathrow third runway to get the go ahead

John Rowland · January 15th 09, 12:52 PM posted to uk.transport.london,uk.railway

wrote:

When you're in a bust you don't start spending billions on vanity
projects. Even in the boom years heathrow could cope with the
passenger numbers so why build a new runway now when they're
dropping?? Its like saying "oh , theres less traffic on the roads -
lets build some bypasses!"

On the contrary: building things requires labour, which can be got more
cheaply in a bust, and employing people helps mitigate the bust.
Furthermore, building things disrupts journeys, and disrupts fewer journeys
in a bust. So busts are the right time to build infrastructure, using the
money that the government saved up during the boom.... except they didn't
save any.