This article was originally published as an edition of the Green Transition, our weekly newsletter on the economics of net zero. To see more editions and subscribe, click here.
In the latest attempt to turn the tide on miserable growth figures, poor labour market data and a deteriorating fiscal picture, government ministers look set to give the green light to the controversial third runway at Heathrow Airport. Like the never-ending story that is HS2, this has been a long-running feature of British politics since the days of the last Labour government. A public consultation on the proposals began way back in 2007 – the year the first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs (feel old yet?) – and they were strongly supported by two unusual bedfellows in the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress. When the national employers’ and the workers’ organisations are singing from the same hymn sheet, it’s usually down to the potential of a project to provide secure, long-term jobs, not to mention the wider growth, connectivity and agglomeration benefits that an expansion of capacity at Britain’s only hub airport would bring.
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