Given the panic that gripped private purse-strings last year, it is more likely that GM would have been liquidated, sending a cascade of destruction through the supply chain on which its rivals, too, depended.

ECONOMIST: General Motors: Government Motors no more | The

At a time when the credit markets are still on the couch, the deal gives the private developer a fattened purse to fund future development.

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Private-sector demand is now flat and the public purse flatter.

ECONOMIST: Why some cities thrive while others slump

But even if smaller teams like Cybernet have little chance of beating the favorites, the race still holds out the potential for a different kind of purse: lucrative contracts from the military and private industry.

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Antoinette McKeown, the chief executive of the NI Consumer Council told MPs that both George Best Belfast City Airport and Belfast International were "private concerns that don't take money from the public purse".

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Though a lot of private equity investors present themselves as shareholder advocates who, by virtue of controlling the purse strings can squeeze corporate managers, they're actually conflicted.

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