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 Any source