Airport Expansion With British Steel

The Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport is going to announce plans for a third runway, and that the project is going to use British steel in its construction. It's interesting, not least because of the growth-environment trade-off but also because the pledge to use British-made steel would suggest that the runway might not be as cheap as would otherwise be the case, and this means that this is going to reduce the returns on the project, albeit marginally. It might also be argued that this is the result of government pressure, and in effect a subtle form of protectionism via 'public' procurement.

The CEO of Heathrow has also signalled that the airport wants to get moving on runway expansion to the extent that he's anticipating planes landing there within a decade. Alongside this, he's also unveiled plans to expand Terminals 2 and 5 - more investment, a multiplier effect and, hopefully, a supply-side boost for the economy.