2021 Manifesto FINAL DRAFT - Flipbook - Page 20
Economy
A Genuinely Green
Industrial Revolution
The local economy, put simply, is
the system of how money is made
and used within the West Midlands.
It relates to things like how many
goods and services we produce and
how much money people can spend
on these things.
On its website the West Midlands
Combined Authority states that
“a strong economy raises the
quality of life for everyone”.
But what is the definition of a strong
economy? One that attracts foreign
direct investment, panders to big
business and measures its success
in terms of gross domestic product
(GDP); or one that thrives by
incubating new business, anchoring
wealth within the region, creating
decent well-paid jobs with success
measured by its impact on poverty?
The first is 20th century economics,
the second is the key to economic
success in the 21st, and it is where
we must take the West Midlands if
everyone is to prosper.