[danielf]

Originally Posted by Chris

A very interesting piece here: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance...uction-of-hs2/

Listen, he said, we all know that the prospectus is a complete fiction ... but the important thing was to get the tunnel built, in the national interest. He knew, he told me, that I believed in the project as much as he did.

...

In the fullness of time, it wouldn't matter how much private investors lost on it all, the important thing was to get it built. The wider economic dividend would be immeasurable. He concluded by telling me it was my duty, as a British citizen, to support whatever needed to be done to ensure its completion. If Japanese bankers were being hoodwinked, so be it. I exaggerate only a little. This really was the gist of what he said ... by the way, sadly, Sir Alastair is now deceased, so I can write this recollection without fear of being sued.

So why then are the planners seemingly unable to put a number on the wider economic dividends? I applaud investment in proper infrastructure (which I think the UK does far too little of), but basically going "we've plucked some numbers out of thin air, but just trust us, it'll work out in the end" doesn't sound very convincing.