Economic annoucements, economic literacy and reporters

A number of economic stories have dominated the headlines over the past week from the closure of 7 of 9 Remploy factories in Wales and the not surprising announcement that the UK’s Green Investment Bank is going to Edinburgh to the Welsh Government’s Science investment announcements and the woeful GDP figures from the European Union today and the latest Federation of Small Business Wales survey on Business confidence, but apart from actual reporting there is always something missing, the short, medium and long terms analysis in both political and economic terms of the impact of each of these stories and what they mean for the welsh economy.

So here’s some initial thoughts, It’s no surprise that the Green Investment Bank went to Edinburgh, but why can’t Wales have its own Green Investment Bank that’s something the Business Minister Edwina Hart should be asked. On Remploy besides the howls of protest which i share because it’s a false economy to close the factories what can the Welsh Government and Local Authorities doing to help?

Moving on to the Welsh Government’s science investment announcements, they look good on paper but how long before the economic benefits will be seen? And no one should be remotely surprised by the horrible GDP figures they have been so bad for so long because the money has been wasted on Ministerial pet projects that its a sad fact of life West Wales and the Valleys are so poor and will remain that way for many years to come.

But i digress, BBC Wales, ITV Wales and Western Mail have Business Editors that focus unsurprisingly on Business news rather than the wider economy, however we have been told BBC Wales is getting an economic correspondent and I welcome that others should follow suit.

I mean how hard can it be to find and employ economics correspondents who know a thing or two about Wales and my other thought is whether there an appetite or room for a Welsh focused publication like the Economist or the Financial Times that would really help with reporting and understanding of recent events.

It would also be beneficial to put economics on the school curriculum to help with economic literacy among the wider population so that we understand what the UK Government, Welsh Government and Local Authorities are responsible for and where thier policies are succeeding and failing in creating jobs, helping business expansion, supporting growing sectors and exports and the like.

So what are the chances of any of this happening, well put it this way there’s more chance of the Welsh Government admitting it got a few things wrong over its economic policy, but I’ve got that off my chest and I feel better already.Any source