After most of the population woke up to yet more blood curdling headlines about big falls on the World’s Stock Markets amid the dire state of the US, European and UK economy’s and the threat of more cuts and tax increases to repay the debt following stalling economies and the possibility of another recession, it’s simply incredible that those in charge of the Government the Prime Minister, his Deputy and the Chancellor are all on holidays.
David Cameron is in Tuscany with his family, George Osborne is in Los Angeles and Nick Clegg is with his family in Spain. I know people who have kept their jobs and are earning decent salaries who haven’t been able to afford holiday for the last 3 years. its not just the poorest who are hurting.
If that wasn’t enough the Government's own Office for Budget Responsibility has down graded its growth forecast for 2011 for the third time to 1.7% and said the UK is unlikely to meet that target added to the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) employee survey for August published this week stated 58% of employees have had pay freezes since the start of the year and 6% have had their pay cut, plus there is evidence that the 50p Tax rate could be cut as soon as next April proves we are not all in this together as the PM and his Ministers are fond of parroting.
But Welsh Minister’s aren’t immune, yes the main levers are elsewhere and most of them are at the Eisteddfod this week before going off on holiday after what some commentators called a gruelling six months (stop laughing), but have we heard from Wales’s First Minister about the latest economic crisis or from his Finance Minister by chance on what they could do to help – of course we haven’t it’s easier to blame to baby eating Tories for all the misery.
So both sets of Government Ministers in their own way are showing contempt to the electorate who are worried about the economic consequences of another global financial crisis especially in Wales where unemployment remains stubbornly high and benefit changes are already impacting disproportionally on families – so what are both Government’s gonna do about this situation?
Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Will Plaid take Adam’s challenge head on?
Adam Price’s new co authored report about small nations, sustainable economic development and the how they fared in the global turmoil of the past few years and its conclusions that Wales would have been up to 39% better off if it had been Independent, has certainly caused a stir and will no doubt be quoted and misquoted in the weeks, months and years to come by supporters and detractors of its findings.
The notes accompanying the publication state ‘The report is a serious and substantial contribution to the debate about sustainable economic growth in small nations. This is particularly timely and highly relevant to Wales and other similar European countries in this time of global economic turmoil.’ and whatever your political persuasion it’s good to see another report on the Welsh economy to help widen the debate on the challenges we face and raise awareness of economic issues outside of the usual suspects.
The main findings of the report are below
Size matters: 50% of differences in growth over the last thirty years in western Europe can be attributed to differences in country size;
Welsh people would be around 39% richer, and the Welsh economy would have grown by 2.5% a year had Wales achieved independence around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and followed a similar pattern to other small nations;
Small is richer: being small doesn't hamper a country's prosperity - in fact there is a 'small country bonus' amongst the EU's member states, with smaller countries growing at a more rapid pace;
Smaller countries are frequently the fastest to recover from recession;
Four key factors make small nations economically successful - openness to trade; social cohesion; adaptability; the EU's flotilla-like structure.
But while the report will certainly be a boost for Plaid Cymru, its supporters and the wider Welsh nationalist cause after a bruising couple months in which they have both suffered a series of setbacks, the question remains whether Plaid Cymru will use this opportunity to take Adam’s other economic message on board and develop a more distinct and sharper economic focus by putting economic and finance issues at the heart of their future policies in order to regain their political edge and try and attract voters back to the Party?
The full report entitled ‘The Flotilla Effect’ is here
The notes accompanying the publication state ‘The report is a serious and substantial contribution to the debate about sustainable economic growth in small nations. This is particularly timely and highly relevant to Wales and other similar European countries in this time of global economic turmoil.’ and whatever your political persuasion it’s good to see another report on the Welsh economy to help widen the debate on the challenges we face and raise awareness of economic issues outside of the usual suspects.
The main findings of the report are below
Size matters: 50% of differences in growth over the last thirty years in western Europe can be attributed to differences in country size;
Welsh people would be around 39% richer, and the Welsh economy would have grown by 2.5% a year had Wales achieved independence around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and followed a similar pattern to other small nations;
Small is richer: being small doesn't hamper a country's prosperity - in fact there is a 'small country bonus' amongst the EU's member states, with smaller countries growing at a more rapid pace;
Smaller countries are frequently the fastest to recover from recession;
Four key factors make small nations economically successful - openness to trade; social cohesion; adaptability; the EU's flotilla-like structure.
But while the report will certainly be a boost for Plaid Cymru, its supporters and the wider Welsh nationalist cause after a bruising couple months in which they have both suffered a series of setbacks, the question remains whether Plaid Cymru will use this opportunity to take Adam’s other economic message on board and develop a more distinct and sharper economic focus by putting economic and finance issues at the heart of their future policies in order to regain their political edge and try and attract voters back to the Party?
The full report entitled ‘The Flotilla Effect’ is here
Monday, August 1, 2011
Is the Arab Spring spreading to Israel?
Who knows, but there were mass protests in Israel over the weekend with 150,000 people protesting across the country against rising food and fuel prices and the cost of education that have rattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition Government.
According to the Independent ‘As more than 150,000 protesters gathered at sites across Israel on Saturday night in one of the country's biggest protests in recent years, the embattled premier promised swift action, establishing a task force to examine their concerns. But he warned against populist measures that would plunge the country into a Europe-style economic crisis.
The protests, initially thought to pose little danger to the coalition, have rattled the government. Shas, the main religious party, has warned that it could leave Mr Netanyahu's right-wing coalition if substantive steps are not taken to alleviate the crisis, potentially triggering new elections.
But it is the political awakening of a largely passive and young middle class that commentators suggest is most dangerous, with activists dubbing it a "revolution of awareness". The protests, which have diverted attention from the Palestinian issue, have grown from a few hundred to tens of thousands in just a couple of weeks, encompassing multiple grievances from high taxes and food prices to the cost of education.
Public dissent has also reignited the simmering antipathy towards Israel's tycoon class, perceived as profiteering from cartels that have pushed up the prices of consumer goods with tacit support from successive Israeli governments.
One commentator, Yair Lapid, suggested that the middle class had become a de facto minority, unable to compete for the subsidies and tax breaks enjoyed by more disadvantaged communities.
Mr Lapid wrote on Ynet, an Israeli news site: "[The middle class] became smaller and smaller and was pushed into a corner, and was angry quietly, until one day it ... discovered that something wonderful happened: it also turned into a minority."
It seemed unlikely yesterday that the government would meet all of the protesters' demands. At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu promised to avoid "irresponsible, hasty and populist steps that [could] drag the country down to the situation of certain countries in Europe, which reached the point of bankruptcy and mass unemployment".
Mr Netanyahu's Likud party has seen its poll ratings plummet in recent days, and commentators are now widely predicting that the summer of discontent could become the turning point of his premiership.
Dan Shilon wrote in the Maariv daily: "The mass demonstrations that swept Israel last night, Mr Prime Minister, will sweep you away as well."
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper also reported that Jews and Arabs were protesting together in Nazareth against the economic hardship.
According to the Independent ‘As more than 150,000 protesters gathered at sites across Israel on Saturday night in one of the country's biggest protests in recent years, the embattled premier promised swift action, establishing a task force to examine their concerns. But he warned against populist measures that would plunge the country into a Europe-style economic crisis.
The protests, initially thought to pose little danger to the coalition, have rattled the government. Shas, the main religious party, has warned that it could leave Mr Netanyahu's right-wing coalition if substantive steps are not taken to alleviate the crisis, potentially triggering new elections.
But it is the political awakening of a largely passive and young middle class that commentators suggest is most dangerous, with activists dubbing it a "revolution of awareness". The protests, which have diverted attention from the Palestinian issue, have grown from a few hundred to tens of thousands in just a couple of weeks, encompassing multiple grievances from high taxes and food prices to the cost of education.
Public dissent has also reignited the simmering antipathy towards Israel's tycoon class, perceived as profiteering from cartels that have pushed up the prices of consumer goods with tacit support from successive Israeli governments.
One commentator, Yair Lapid, suggested that the middle class had become a de facto minority, unable to compete for the subsidies and tax breaks enjoyed by more disadvantaged communities.
Mr Lapid wrote on Ynet, an Israeli news site: "[The middle class] became smaller and smaller and was pushed into a corner, and was angry quietly, until one day it ... discovered that something wonderful happened: it also turned into a minority."
It seemed unlikely yesterday that the government would meet all of the protesters' demands. At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu promised to avoid "irresponsible, hasty and populist steps that [could] drag the country down to the situation of certain countries in Europe, which reached the point of bankruptcy and mass unemployment".
Mr Netanyahu's Likud party has seen its poll ratings plummet in recent days, and commentators are now widely predicting that the summer of discontent could become the turning point of his premiership.
Dan Shilon wrote in the Maariv daily: "The mass demonstrations that swept Israel last night, Mr Prime Minister, will sweep you away as well."
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper also reported that Jews and Arabs were protesting together in Nazareth against the economic hardship.
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