You may not like it, but financial engineers can give us the tools we need to drag ourselves out of this mess

Financial engineers – you can be forgiven for holding them in total contempt. The finger of guilt for the recession ravaging construction firms points witheringly in their direction.

But, galling as it might seem, construction now needs financial engineers more than it needs civil, structural, mechanical or electrical engineers.

The tools and tool-making talents of financial engineers could prove vital in thawing billions of pounds worth of frozen projects. It offers the potential to generate a vaste source of new construction work through tapping more efficiently and effectively private finance and what remains of the public funds.

With the future path of construction workloads heading southward the industry faces a stark choice: innovate and adapt or shrink.

Read more at the Brickonomics blog.

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