It seems obvious to me that solving the economic problems of Wales requires action by the Assembly in repairing the financial infrastructure. There is nothing in the fancy new economic policy published by the WAG on this.
On the whole this document reads extremely well and has all the right politically correct ‘buzz’ words in all the right places. There is a good focus on attempting to creating a better ‘business’ environment and it demonstrates a carefully worded realisation that social aspirations are underpinned by a better economy.
However, it is ‘fatally flawed’ due to a fundamental lack of understanding of business (and human nature). This is strange because it has been written by politicians!
Firstly, you don’t need a better ‘business environment’ for business to flourish – some of the worst environments on the planet have excellent business economies (Mumbai? Shanghai?). Government driven improvements to so-called infrastructure (roads, rail, ICT) are NOT the primary driver of business (although they help).
Business environment is all about MONEY and MARKETS. Put crudely, in Wales, there is little money and no market for goods and services (apart from procurements by WAG). Moreover, there is no CONTROL over what little money there is. This is why gaining control over the money is a pre-requisite to any sustainable economic or social development.
So how do you go about gaining control of the money?
Two main ways. First of all by adoption of US-style credit unions and forcing institutional payrolls through them to put their capitalisation and reach on a business relevant footing. Secondly, by speeding up the taking of more powers over taxation for WAG – the Nationalist agenda.
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