We are going to hear a lot about ‘Growth’ over the next few years.
Hers is an excellent short explainer/ Blog from Chatham House. It is a Think Tank so I assume they are now classed as one of the enemies of growth for trying to think more widely about what is is and how you go about measuring it and designing policies to make it work for everyone!
Equally this excellent thread from economist Richard Murphy highlights the problems with seeing econmic growth through the songle lens of GDP and why the Truss plan isn’t even a credible plan to start!
Economic Growth.
It will dominate discussions over the coming months.
But surely now the government (and Labour last month) have put this at the centre of their remedy for the country shouldn't we be having a grown-up debate about what we mean and what outcomes we want.
When economic reporting uses the word ‘growth’, it generally refers to gross domestic product (GDP). GDP counts all money spent and received by participants in an economy and offers a method of comparing the states of economies against each other over time.
When we developed the LLEP strategy around our four strategic pillars we were clear that we wanted to grow the local economy, but we were also clear this has to be in a sustainable and has to be inclusive growth. Neither of these are controversial or new.
The most successful economies put these forms of growth alongside tackling inequality, wellbeing and environmental sustainability at their heart too. But looking at GDP growth alone fundamentally misses the point about the state of the nation and even its economy.
GDP measures money moving around the system (regardless of whether it is good or bad like smoking) but the values that make the nation a better place to live. Pay for childcare or coaching and it adds to GDP. Look after your children at home or have a volunteer coach and it doesn't. Which do we value more as society?
There is plenty of correlation between high tax functioning governments and high growth. There is little for trickle-down economics.
But the debate is shifting to the ideas around Wellbeing Economics and governments are shifting in this direction (Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, California, Norway for example) we need to move towards the concept of GNI - Gross National Happiness as a measure of our success. These are not mainstream yet but they need to be
I may be labelled part of the anti-growth coalition by a government who wants to always create 'enemies' of their ideology. But I am equally determined to deliver a form of growth that delivers a fairer society for everybody and in a sustainable way. In my voluntary roles at the LLEP or Sport for Development Coalition I will not apologise for having a vision for a better, fairer country. I don't think we should apologise for wanting to emulate the countries that are economically and socially successful, which surprisingly also are officially the happiest places too.
I am starting a series of longer Blogs on this Saje Impact - so I'd love your perspectives and how business and the sport and physical activity sectors responds.
Are we ready for pushing the wellbeing agenda?
Appendices
Good Growth for Cities: Taking action on levelling up (pwc.co.uk)