tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post6032566689002470810..comments2024-03-26T09:38:39.888+00:00Comments on Borthlas: Shouting too soon?John Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-22046979013158290912010-10-29T17:35:35.843+01:002010-10-29T17:35:35.843+01:00Christine,
0.8% sounds like a very low level of g...Christine,<br /><br />0.8% sounds like a very low level of growth, but it's a figure for a single quarter. If sustained over a full year, it would amount to a total of 3.2% - and that is higher than the long term trend in the UK economy.<br /><br />If I were in the Labour Party, I'd be inclined to try and claim that it was actually the result of decisions taken in the last 12 months of the Labour Government, and is being endangered by subsequent decisions!<br /><br />I think that would be as fraught with danger, though, as it is for the Tories to claim credit. The really big question is the 'if sustained', of course. I'm not confident, and I guess you're not either.John Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-85347543371130140792010-10-29T17:23:40.959+01:002010-10-29T17:23:40.959+01:00Definitely shouting too soon.
Whatever our own ...Definitely shouting too soon. <br /><br />Whatever our own political persuasion, we all want to hear good news about the economy. Can you really call 0.8% a bounce? I think we'd all be a bit daft if we believed it could power us into complete recovery.<br /><br />As far as the construction sector goes, its dependence upon public sector capital investment is unarguable. With the demise of UK Government schemes like "Building Schools for the Future", architectural, construction and engineering firms are laying off and sucking in hard. We can expect similar outcomes in Wales, with almost half the capital programme compromised by George Osborne's CSR.<br /><br />Geoff's point about the lack of Welsh economic analysis is well made and strides have been taken to get a better evidence base. While the stats are imperfect, there are certain things we do know, though.<br /><br />Wales is unique in our industrial and land based heritage. But we do have things in common with other regions of the UK - such as difficult topography, geography and peripherality.<br /><br />To counter these problems you need to have a strong public sector, pumping money into projects which will create jobs. Expecting the private sector to invest here without incentives just sounds hollow. And hopeless.<br /><br />I know Carwyn Jones is aware of that reality. Some of the rhetoric coming out of LibCon Westminster suggests they don't. And that is perhaps the most frightening thing of all.Christine Gwythernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-79606514149272807172010-10-29T10:04:45.357+01:002010-10-29T10:04:45.357+01:00The 0.8% figure is for the UK as a whole- is there...The 0.8% figure is for the UK as a whole- is there a Welsh breakdown?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-59465929002516736092010-10-28T21:39:08.096+01:002010-10-28T21:39:08.096+01:00This always worries me as what we should be talkin...This always worries me as what we should be talking about is the state of our economy here in Wales.<br /><br />Can any one tell me how well or how badly we are doing here in Wales.<br /><br />We knew that the credit boom driving house prices in an ever increasing upwards spiral would end in tears as virtually no one in Wales can truly afford to own yet alone live in their own houses <br /><br />The great economic drivers of our past are totally dead in the waterie Coal house /Snowdon Slate what next Agriculture milking cows by hand. Life on the railway at Whitland Oyster. dredging off Gower. Tryweryn and so on and on <br /><br />So where are we going <br /><br />We need a starting point and that has to be a financial statement of our current economic position here in Wales<br /><br />geoffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com