What would a wellbeing economy mean for Scottish independence and how could it be achieved?
Wellbeing requires fundamental change
The mainstream narrative espoused by Scotland’s leaders and advocates of conventional economics argues that we must grow the economy in order to be able to pay for the public services that wellbeing relies on. Hence, we frequently hear Scottish Ministers speak of “growing a wellbeing economy”. This is despite the Scottish Government’s membership of the ‘Wellbeing Economy Alliance’ (WEAll), which insists that focusing on growth is an anathema to wellbeing.
The idea that growth will lead to a wellbeing economy is a case of putting the cart before the horse. It is based on the false belief that only the private sector can create the wealth which public services rely on. The private sector has an important role to play in a wellbeing economy. However, it can only fulfil this role if the state adopts policies which reallocate resources towards production of goods and services which people need in order to live well within planetary limits.
What we do not need, is an economy based on rising house and asset values or a focus on increasing GDP and debt fuelled consumption. Fitting wellbeing objectives into the current model of the economy is like fitting a square peg into a round hole. A wellbeing economy requires transformation with the focus on what we actually need to produce with the resources at our disposal to meet the essential needs of everyone. GDP growth may well follow, but it will be a consequence of production for wellbeing, not the cause.