PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

By now, many of you will have heard about the sad death, last night, of Ivan Cameron. He was only six years old. As the father of two young boys, I can think of nothing worse than can befall a family. Our deepest sympathy to David, Samantha and their children.

Last week, the United Nations declared that Welsh remained one of the world’s most endangered languages, despite the fact that there are over half a million fluent speakers according to the last Census in 2001. This finding comes at a time when the Welsh Assembly Government has announced its intentions to apply for the transfer of further powers for the Welsh language from Westminster. Of course, there have already been massive debates on what should be contained within any new Welsh Language Act, especially with regard to its forced adoption by the private sector. However, the whole point of the requests for powers is not the creation of the act itself but the principle that future Welsh language powers should be decided by Cardiff Bay and not Westminster. As you would expect, I am against any move for all Welsh businesses to be compelled to be bilingual as that would be a retrograde step which would create unnecessary divisions, especially at a time when devolution needs to be seen t

On Saturday, the press reported a massive protest in Dublin against the worsening state of the economy Despite the coverage, it would seem that not many on this side of the Irish Sea are too sure what the strikes are about as the news coverage has been scant to say the least. Having been over in Ireland recently, it would seem that the row is all about public sector pensions or, actually who should pay the pensions. Simply put, the government has decided that it will save money by getting public sector workers to pay more of their share of their pension. Essentially this means that the state pays less into the pension and that this is compensated directly from the workers' monthly salary. This means, of course, that the take-home pay is then reduced, although it is not strictly a pay cut as the money is put into the individual's pension pot. As a result, around £1.2 billion pounds will be saved by the State not paying into the pension scheme. Not surprisingly, as shown on Satur

In July 2007, a report was published that had the potential to turn around the Welsh economy. The Report of the independent Task and Finish Group on Commercialisation in Wales conducted a wide-ranging review into how research within higher education could be successfully transferred into the market place. Chaired by Simon Gibson – the chief executive of Wesley Clover – it concluded that Welsh universities were sitting on a “gold mine” of intellectual property that could be commercialised, thus bringing enormous benefits to the economy of Wales. Some of the actions suggested by the report included an All-Wales commercialisation strategy that provides a clear policy framework for all Welsh public-funded agencies; creating accredited educational courses on the rudiments of commercialisation and business-building aimed at students; and the establishment of a series of advisory panels made up of people drawn from the international business community who would apply their expertise to help a

Fascinating article in the FT by Samuel Palmisano, the President of IBM, on how the future of economies will not be dependent on spend on large capital projects but on clever solutions. The question is whether the UK (and its regions such as Wales) can grasp the opportunity and stimulate "investments that envision and enable a smarter future". " Governments around the world are grappling with some of the toughest decisions faced in generations. In severe recession, they are collectively considering as much as $4,500bn (€3,600bn, £3,200bn) in stimulus investments. Understandably there is a sense of urgency, sometimes verging on desperation. But while the need for immediate economic stimulus is clear, we should not and need not panic. Let us not revert to old-world thinking about new-world challenges. Launching “public works” projects – putting people to work with shovels and jackhammers to put money into their pockets – is not the way to jump-start a 21st-century economy

No, not this discredited Labour Government but the recession, according to the Prime Minister yesterday who, at the same time, promised more tax cuts paid for by increased borrowing. Shame that very few people seem to agree with him, even his own Treasury forecasts.

An excellent new blog has appeared and I am sorry I have been too busy to point it out earlier. Welsh Political History "dissects some of the claims about historical events made in the media and by politicians and bloggers and tries to work out if the conclusion put upon them can really be supported". You won't always agree with the conclusions - I certainly don't agree with the recent economy argument - but it is well worth a read.

The Treasury has just released their latest set of economic forecasts for the UK economy. Certainly, independent forecasters are now firmly of the opinion that the recovery in the second half of the year forecasted by the Chancellor will fail to materialise. Worst still, it would seem that there will be little respite in 2010, with growth remaining static, claimant unemployment rising to 2.23 million (from 1.11 million in 2008) and public sector borrowing hitting £132 billion. However, given the previous track recvord of some of these economists on predicting the state of the UK economy, it could get far worse.

Cardiff is a capital city of which every Welsh citizen should be proud. Not only does it have superb civic buildings, iconic world-class structures such as the Millennium Stadium and great shopping facilities, it also has some of the best parkland of any urban area in the world. One of these iconic green areas is Bute Park. This is an incredible creation of man-made beauty which was originally developed by the great landscape artist, Capability Brown, in the late 18th century and subsequently gifted to the people of Cardiff by the Third Marquess of Bute. It really is something special in the midst of the noise and bustle of the youngest capital city in Europe. Given this, you would have thought that the first priority of its guardians at Cardiff Council would be to keep the park in its original and pristine condition. However, they have now decided, in their questionable wisdom, that instead of investing in its unique features, they intend to build a £1.4m bridge and two-lane access wh

The announcement that a new prison is to be built on the site of the old Ferodo factory just outside Caernarfon is welcome news after months of job losses and company closures. With a thousand jobs being created and estimates that it will pump around £17 million into the area every year, the development will be a timely boost for the local economy. It may even go some way in assuaging the concerns of those in the region who believe that all the best public sector projects go to South Wales! Now that this critical decision has been made, politicians should do everything in their power to ensure that local building companies get a fair hearing for the contracts to build the prison. The last thing we need is for building firms in North Wales to continue to lose out on millions of pounds worth of work because of the practice of ensuring contracts are only within the reach of larger firms. In a wider context, many will be asking whether such spending on large infrastructure projects is poss

Read the exchange below from a recent plenary and weep for the future of the Welsh economy and, for that matter, the Welsh Assembly's credibility with business. As someone who believes passionately in Welsh devolution, I despair that those in power are doing little to help the businesses of this nation and are dragging down the reputation of the Assembly at the same time. Whilst we are spending £1 million on determining whether there should be another referendum, the necessary instruments are already in place to give higher levels of support for Welsh businesses, yet little has been done to deal with the main issue, namely credit to businesses. What is the point of having two billion pounds of European funding if it is just sitting there doing little to support those businesses in trouble? What is the point of the Assembly having its own 'bank' - Finance Wales - if it does nothing to help businesses such as Preseli Construction? What is the point of having an Assembly that

During the last three years, I have pointed out in this blog and elsewhere that Cardiff was the only major city in the UK without a branch of the China British Business Council (CBBC) and that, as nation, this was placing us at a disadvantage in trading with one of the world’s fastest growing economies. On Wednesday evening, this issue was finally addressed when the CBBC opened a branch in Cardiff at the start of the Chinese year of the Ox. It was an excellent reception, although it was disappointing that more businesses did not turn up given the potential importance of China to the UK economy. Indeed, the Prime Minister himself predicted that British exports to China could double to £10bn over the next 18 months. But what of China and its future economic prospects, and has the recession changed the way that this massive economy will manage its relationship with the rest of the World? No one can deny the size of the Chinese economy and the way it has expanded over the last few years. C

So what is the current state of the UK economy? Well, the current economic statistics do not look promising: A record 200 people a day declared bankrupt Baugur - the owner of Hamleys , House of Fraser and Mappin and Webb - goes into administration Ford cuts 850 UK jobs amid 30% sales plunge Manufacturing output declined at its fastest rate since 1981 in December The U.K. economy plunged further into recession in the three months through January At the same time, the so-called Global Alliance on the credit crunch that our Prime Minister has been advocating is slowly unravelling, as we saw from President Sarkozy's remarks yesterday . Regardless of people's disdain for their actions, banks remain at the centre of any recovery plan for the UK economy. With news that they have taken £185 billion of taxpayers money , it is time that they reciprocated by getting money to flow to the business community again. At the very least, they should stop their practice, which is still pr

Excellent article in the Financial Times today on the subject of supporting large local companies. Whilst the focus is on Manchester, there are certainly lessons here for the Welsh Assembly Government in supporting indigenous businesses. Focus should be on big local UK companies By Andrew Bounds, North of England Correspondent Large local companies rather than small start-ups or overseas investors are the biggest drivers of economic growth in cities but are too often ignored by policymakers, according to a study that challenges conventional thinking. Aimed at taking stock of Manchester’s progress since the loss of much of its manufacturing base in the 1980s, the study is the first of seven to be released over eight weeks. Carried out by Aston Business School, they will together amount to one of the most comprehensive surveys of a regional economy in Europe. The intention is to guide local councils and investment agencies – not just in Manchester but potentially in the rest of the UK –

As readers of this blog will be aware, I have been a constant critic of this Assembly Government’s policy towards business rates, one of the few fiscal instruments which it has the power to reduce to help the private sector. If it isn’t bad enough that business rates are higher in Wales than the rest of the UK, what has the Assembly Government now decided to do during the worst recession in living memory? Yes, believe it or not, it has decided to increase business rates by an above-inflation rise of almost five per cent for 2009/10 . It almost beggars belief that at a time when owner managers are looking to save every penny to enable them to survive this economic slump, the powers that be at Cardiff Bay have decided that the best way to support businesses is to take more money out of their pockets. As if this wasn’t enough, the UK Parliament finally announced plans for a new Business Supplementary Rate Bill last week. This legislation, which was a direct result of the Lyons Review into

Insightful article in the Sunday Times yesterday by Emma Duncan on the growing power of the civil servant in today's society "Even in boom times there’s a lot to be said for being a civil servant. Many of them do exceedingly interesting things, if you like the idea of running the economy or protecting the environment. And they’re powerful. They tell individuals and companies how to behave. Politicians occasionally try to interfere, but ministers are ill-informed and easily distracted so do not much disturb civil servants’ lives". "The power of civil servants is increasing, too. As this newspaper reported last week, the government’s share of the economy is growing. In the northeast the figure is 66%, compared with 54% when Labour came to power. Thanks to the economic crisis, that's going to rise still further. Near-nationalisation of the financial system means civil servants will control the banks and will poke their sticky fingers into every industry that the po

As many of you are aware, Wales was given an unexpected boost at the end of 2006 by qualifying for a second round of European funding. Whilst being one of the poorest regions in the whole of Europe is nothing to be proud of, the £2 billion in funds from Brussels could help develop the competitiveness of the Welsh economy at a time when it is needed the most. Of course, this money came after £1.2 billion had already been given to Wales under the old Objective 1 programme for the period 2000-2006. Ensuring that the money is spent on projects that make a real difference to the Welsh economy is critical, especially at a time when other public sector budgets to support business are being stretched to the limit. Many would therefore have been shocked and dismayed at the revelations from last week’s National Assembly’s European and External Affairs committee, where it was allegedly revealed that £77 million of European funds will have to be returned to Brussels because it has been unspent dur