By Richard Threlfall2021-02-03T06:00:00+00:00
Economic growth has become the only measure of a country’s success, but the pandemic and climate crisis tell us to strive for something more meaningful, says KPMG’s Richard Threlfall
Is bigger, better? Quality over quantity, goes the old adage. But it seems as society, as businesses, and as individuals we have an obsession with wanting more. More jobs, more revenue, more income, more stuff. But, increasingly, the assumption that growth is good is coming under scrutiny. It is a discussion that has profound implications for the construction industry.
Covid has intensified the debate, but is not the cause. The trigger is rather the growing awareness that we are living beyond the means of the planet to support us. Or to use the term adopted by Kate Raworth in Doughnut Economics, we are breaching our planetary boundaries. We are doing so in multiple ways, particularly through global warming, biodiversity loss and deforestation. If we
While COVID-19 continues to hit the global economy, governments are looking to infrastructure as a way to create future employment and sustain the eventual economic recovery
While COVID-19 continues to hit the global economy, governments are looking to infrastructure as a way to create future employment and sustain the eventual economic recovery.
This includes the UK, where the government is promising to invest £100bn (€112bn) in new infrastructure by 2025, taking its public investment as a share of GDP from 2% up to 3%, in line with the OECD average. The UK’s National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) plans for £640bn in capital investment across the economy by 2025. The government is expecting the new National Investment Bank (NIB) to be key in ‘crowding in’ private capital.
David Neal
This is easier said than done. Globally, private infrastructure investment has been declining for a decade. The G20-affiliated Global Infrastructure Hub calculates that annual private investment in primary infrastructure globally – greenfield projects or asset recycling – has dropped from $155bn (€128bn) a decade ago, to $106bn in 2019, with the greenfi
By Iain Parker2021-01-29T06:00:00+00:00
We have a chance to reboot the industry by embracing technology and focusing on doing simple things well, says Alinea’s Iain Parker
With covid-19 induced uncertainties, the chancellor of the exchequer’s autumn budget was abandoned last year in favour of a spending review, with a shorter time horizon of one year and the deferment of some major spending decisions until this year.
The chancellor told us that the UK economy would shrink by 11.3% last year, the biggest contraction in 300 years, and that overall debt would exceed 100% of GDP – not a great story.
By Jordan Marshall2021-01-29T12:28:00+00:00
Report highlights risk that tax payers will not get value for money from major projects
The Public Accounts Committee has raised concerns about the private sector s ability to deliver the government’s £600bn infrastructure pipeline, calling into question transparency on major projects as well as skills among senior leaders.
In a report the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it required reassurance that the public and private sector were up to the task of building out the schemes promised in last year’s budget.
The report looked at a range of project s including HS2
It said: “We are concerned about the value for money risks resulting from the significant increase in investment, speed of delivery and changes to how government makes investment decisions.