Infrastructure investment gets a very sturdy spreadsheet
The ONS has updated Britain’s infrastructure investment figures. Roads, rails, pipes and cables can now learn their net value before somebody closes them for essential maintenance.
Infrastructure includes huge physical assets and systems nobody notices until they stop. Statisticians solved this by putting everything in tables strong enough to support a medium sized flyover.
The estimates separate market sector and government investment. Experts can now identify whether a bridge belongs to taxpayers, investors or the temporary traffic lights currently running it.
Every pothole receives a valuation
“Every asset has a measurable productive life,” said Quentin Gross Sprocket, Chief Valuer of Large Concrete Things. “A pothole is different. It gains cultural importance each winter until residents give it a name.”
Net stocks account for assets losing value over time. This makes Britain’s infrastructure unusually relatable, since it too has developed a complicated relationship with age, weather and replacement parts.
The report explains its data limitations and plans future development. These are also the two most dependable features of a roadworks sign, though the sign generally offers fewer charts.
Officials say better estimates help show the contribution infrastructure makes to the economy. The economy thanked them, then drove into a diversion it had not been told about.
The bridge requests a software update
Britain has now calculated the worth of everything beneath, above and across it. The spreadsheet saved successfully. The bridge beside the office requested an update and displayed connection timed out.
Read the real story: The ONS report on UK infrastructure investment and stocks.
