How investing in infrastructure could save the City

The Treasury wants private investors to put their money directly into infrastructure projects. Whether this will do the economy much good is debatable, says Matthew Lynn. But it might just save the City.

We can all no doubt think of an infrastructure project the government could spend a few billion on. Personally, I'd like a high-speed rail line from the Weald of Kent straight into central London, with subsidised fares and built entirely underground, so that it didn't spoil the view from my house. Another terminal at Gatwick might be handy so long as the flights are directed away from my village. And one of those tidal power generation schemes in the Thames estuary to provide the whole of the southeast with free electricity would be nice.

By the time we've compiled our lists, the £30bn that the chancellor, George Osborne, earmarked in his Autumn Statement for new infrastructure will be spent by lunchtime. Probably several times over. Whether any of it does the economy much good is debatable. But it might save the City.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.