Optimistic forecast from Ibec: Growth must reach all corners
Ibec’s latest quarterly economic outlook is optimistic — it forecasts growth of 5.6% and that the consumer economy will grow by 2.6% in volume terms. The lobby suggests that, before the year ends, employment will reach record levels, with over 2.2m people at work.
This is indeed heartening even if Ibec tempers it with the usual warnings about competitiveness — business shorthand for wage increases and other costs. The organisation, unsurprisingly, warned that threats to competitiveness are resurfacing. Demand has recovered, but many domestic business costs are also rising quickly, they say.
How else might it be in a society where wages were, and in many cases still remain, stagnant or falling for a decade? How else would it be in a society where the once-achievable hope of buying a family home has moved into Lotto-win territory? How else would it be in a society where the idea of stable employment is fading as fast as Spring daffodils?
Taken in a purely economic context, the outlook is cheering but unless that optimism is matched by a determination to turn economic recovery into a tide that lifts all boats, then it may prove a Pyrrhic victory. Last week, the House of Commons published a report that suggested that by 2030 the world’s richest 1% are on course to control as much as two-thirds of the world’s wealth, underlining the need to make sure this progress resonates at all levels of society.
