Publications

If Britain cannot shift the balance towards more local incentives and decision-making in planning, then good and affordable housing will remain something that the British will only be able to see on TV – when reporting from Germany, says Oliver Hartwich

The Chief Economist at the Policy Exchange analyses the British economy’s performance over the past decade and argues that all is not well for the UK economy. He argues we are heading in the wrong direction and urges for reform in key areas.

Private and public overspending has fuelled Britain’s economic growth of the past but it is now high time to rid ourselves of our sweet tooth for debt. The Chancellor is right but his words are just a little hollow without an acknowledgement that the Government has contributed to the current credit crisis.

The forthcoming comprehensive spending review would be a good opportunity for Mr Darling to follow his words with action. If his own finances were in order, his advice to the private sector would carry greater weight.

Britain’s transport infrastructure is, quite simply, not fit for purpose. Heathrow, as the nation’s most important air travel hub, can only be described as inadequate. While all other major European airports have increased their capacity, it took more than two decades just to plan the new Terminal five and a third runway is nowhere in sight.

Ground transport on Britain’s roads and rails is equally substandard. In no other European country can one find fewer roads per person. On average, for every Briton there are six metres of road. Even in the much more densely populated Netherlands, and in Japan, they have seven and nine metres per person respectively.

Wer in England den Fernseher einschaltet, der hat im Wesentlichen die Wahl zwischen endlosen Variationen aus drei Grundprogrammen: Dokumentationen über den Zweiten Weltkrieg, Kochshows und „Schöner Wohnen“- Reportagen. Insbesondere die letzte Kategorie erfreut sich in jüngster Zeit wachsender Beliebtheit, denn die Briten haben für die eigenen vier Wände eine Leidenschaft entwickelt, mit der sie früher höchstens über das Wetter reden konnten. Nur leider ist Wohneigentum für viele Erstkäufer inzwischen unbezahlbar geworden.

The current subprime mortgage crisis in the US was at least partly caused – and definitely exacerbated – by restrictive town planning policies. This has negatively affected affordability and led to a debt bubble which now spectacularly burst. If there is one lesson to learn from this, we have to make sure that house prices are not artificially inflated by planning policies.

While airports such as Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester can hardly claim to be exemplary, the problems are worst at the UK’s most important airport, Heathrow. Travelling to, from and through Heathrow has become air passengers’ purgatory – unavoidable at times but an altogether ghastly experience.

Bekanntlich wurde England in grauer Vorzeit von den Angeln und den Sachsen besiedelt. Nach neuesten Erkenntnissen müssen sich unter den Einwanderern aller­dings auch Schildbürger befunden haben, denn im Laufe seiner Geschichte – und vom Rest der Welt beinahe unbemerkt – hat sich Großbritannien zu einer Hochburg der Bürokratie entwickelt.