THE economy is not working well for all Scots or the planet. Over one million people live in relative poverty in Scotland and just over 10% of workers are paid below the real living wage – 72% of them are women.
And of course, a nation like Scotland is part of a global economy in which wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few.
Indeed, a recent report by Oxfam International highlighted that the richest 1% of the world, have managed to pocket two-thirds of all global wealth over the last two years, and billionaires are the biggest contributors to climate change emitting a million times more carbon than the average person.
The global economic system is just not working for us or the planet. So what can we do in our own wee country?
Desmond Tutu the anti-apartheid and human rights activist once said that when things seem daunting and overwhelming then we must think of it like eating an elephant: just a bite at a time.
So in terms of tackling the elephantine problem of wealth we need to start taking out some bites.
And in this we should be heartened by Scotland’s moves on community wealth building – a suite of actions that seeks to take on the unfair and wealth-extracting economic system one bite at a time, by focusing on redirecting wealth back to the people who produce it in the first place – us!
Community wealth building is a progressive and brave policy. From its origins in the USA, there is now a global movement for community wealth.
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In Scotland, we have pioneers in North Ayrshire Council who took the agenda forward in 2019, and since 2020 a number of other council areas, institutions and people have been producing plans and delivering community wealth across Scotland.
This is backed by the Scottish Government and Community Wealth Minister Tom Arthur (below).
Community wealth building rejects the trickle-down of wealth economics and looks to create a torrent. Community wealth building asserts the often-forgotten truth that wealth and asset ownership are the defining features of all economies and that to address poverty and make better environmental choices, we need more people and communities to own economic activity and assets.
Community wealth building is about community ownership over land, including wind energy generation, with economic return being recirculated back into local communities.
It is about making sure that every public sector pound spent on goods and services is provided by local, social or environmentally aware firms and not global corporates in offshore tax havens.
It is about finance and investment directed toward the ingenuity and creativity of all Scots. It is about fair work and a real living wage.
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It is about giving employees a genuine say in the workplace and making it easier for them to set up employee-owned firms and cooperatives. Above all, it is about making sure we own more of the economy.
Community wealth building is Scotland as an economic democracy. Whereby the economy is not controlled by others and thus something we merely fit into, but rather something which we all actively participate in, shape and gain from.
We must learn from past historic mistakes.
Think back to our glorious industrial or financial past, or the oil and gas boom, in these cases the already wealthy, the shareholders and the UK exchequer gained so much, whilst many of us gained so little. And think forward to the promise of wind or renewable energy. History must not be allowed to repeat itself.
Community wealth building is practical and it's happening, but we need to step up the pace. The time is ripe to deepen and grow community wealth building and our best chance to turn a wellbeing economy into reality.
The groundwork and appetite are in place, and now with continued work, we can secure the gains, and deliver more and with pace.
We must start making changes to the economic system, with a suite of small bite-sized actions. This is the way we start to build an economy that genuinely works for all Scots and the planet.
I have been delighted to see that the Scotonomics Festival of Economics, which takes place in Dundee from March 22 to 24, has included community wealth building as one of its main themes.
I will be discussing and delivering sessions on community wealth building throughout the event.
The programme has sections dedicated to organisations and individuals who wish to pursue community wealth building in Dundee and Scotland as a whole.
Walking the walk, the festival uses only community-owned venues, and local suppliers and the profits from the festival are being donated to create a social enterprise in Dundee.
Neil McInroy is the global lead for community wealth building at the USA-based think tank The Democracy Collaborative.
He shares his thoughts, alongside other real-world economists, at the Scotonomics Festival of Economics in Dundee from March 22 to 24.
Programme details and tickets to attend in person or online are available from the scotonomics website: www.scotonomics.scot.
This is the latest Scotonomics newsletter, which comes out every Wednesday at 6pm. Get it delivered to your inbox FOR FREE by clicking here.
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