Reflections on the Welsh economy: remanence, resilience and resourcefulness

The challenges facing the Welsh economy are well known and understood, but are brought into sharp perspective by the fact that after twenty years of devolution and considerable policy effort, the Welsh economy today is exactly where it was in 1998 in relative performance terms. The critical question therefore becomes why - why does the Welsh economy continue to struggle to improve its relative economic performance in the UK? There are many factors at work of course and this short paper cannot possibly do justice to them all. Instead, this article seeks to highlight the value of taking an evolutionary perspective on the issues facing the Welsh economy. In other words, this seeks to understand how regional economies grow, adapt and change over time in line with the changes occurring in their external environment.