I told my Benzinga editor that no American readers would want to read an article about British politicians debating British transportation policy. He told me to write it anyway. Turns out I was right.
So here’s the game I’m going to play: I can see how many views that the article got on Benzinga. I’m going to feature it with this title on Trading Common Sense and see if I can get more views here with this title than it gets on Benzinga. This would be an unprecedented achievement. I’ll post the results after a week.
Oh, and it won’t hurt my feelings of you don’t read the rest of this compelling article that includes a fascinating debate about which of London’s two airports should get a new runway. You can find something much better to read by clicking “Back” on your browser and reading literally anything else on this site. If you’re reading this, that means your click is already counted in the worst contest ever…
In a recent report, Morgan Stanley analysts summarized the arguments that took place at the U.K.’s Great Transportation Debate. The debate focused on what politicians plan to do about U.K. transportation needs. Three panel debates focused on rail, bus and aviation needs, and representatives from the U.K.’s Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat political parties weighed in.
Rail
The debate over rail transportation centered on whether or not the current rail franchising model in the U.K. has been a success. Advocates of the system argued that the system has seen high satisfaction rates and has had a limited impact on taxpayers. In addition, strong bidding competition has benefited passengers.
Opponents of the system argued that the system has led to rising fare prices, under-investment and an unclear long-term plan.
Bus
The bus debate hinged on whether the London bus model should be adopted in other British cities. Proponents of the model claimed that contracted services create more certainty and consistency, and that the current bus services in many areas are unaffordable and unreliable.
Opponents countered by claiming that approaching bus services with a “one size fits all” mentality is overly simplistic, and a better approach would be implementing systems that cater to the needs of each individual region.
Aviation
The final subject of debate centered on which London airport should be expanded: Heathrow, Gatwick or both. Debaters in favor of Heathrow expansion focused on the potential to expand London’s international connectivity, especially with China.
Those in favor of Gatwick expansion highlighted that recent traffic expansion has been heaviest to and from Europe, and the cost of Gatwick expansion would be lower than the cost of a Heathrow expansion.
Read this article and all my other articles for free on Benzinga by clicking here
Want to learn more about the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!
