From HS2 cancellations to Heathrow’s still unbuilt third runway, the over-budget Elizabeth line to the repeated delays to the Hinkley C nuclear reactor, why is the UK so bad at infrastructure projects?
This week the Expert Factor team – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – take a deep dive into what goes wrong when the UK wants to build big things. How did the costs for HS2 get so high? Is there the right level of government expertise to see through big infrastructure projects? Does the UK have a bigger NIMBY problem than other countries? And what could be done to learn from past mistakes?
Participants
![Paul Johnson](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-11/Paul%20J%202022%20Official%20portrait_0.jpg?itok=JAN23N1X)
Director
Paul has been the Director of the IFS since 2011. He is also currently visiting professor in the Department of Economics at University College London.
![Anand Menon](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2023-10/anandmenon160.x93b0b448.jpg?itok=aEMyS0HY)
Anand Menon
Director, UKICE
![Hannah White](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2023-01/hannah-white-326x326.jpg?itok=jfmn2B0p)
Hannah White
Director Institute for Government
Podcast details
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
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