Forth Road Bridge , originally uploaded by bridgink . The Forth Road Bridge, built in 1964, is starting to show its age, and a replacement is needed. It is likely that weight restrictions will have to be introduced within the next five years and the new bridge will have to be opened by 2016. How should it be paid for? The Private Finance Initiative method is the most likely. But why? The bridge is essential to sustaining land values on the north side of the Firth of Forth and its influence extends far beyond that. The logical method of payment would be through a bond issue, supported by revenues from a land value tax, but that is not going to happen. But all of this has a bearing on a statement by the new head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, approving of the US government's financial policy of injecting funds into the economy through tax cuts. What is wrong with that policy? First, there is no guarantee that tax cuts will maintain consumer demand....
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