Plaid needs to define what prosperity actually means in Wales

What do we want from the economy?

For much of the post-war era, there was broad agreement across British politics about what the economy was for. Governments accepted responsibility for maintaining full employment. Jobs created spending power, spending power supported businesses, and economic development followed. Whatever their differences, politicians largely agreed that the economy should serve society.

That consensus began to unravel in the 1970s. As inflation rose, the post-war model was blamed for economic instability. A new ideology came to dominate policy: neoliberalism. Instead of prioritising employment and public investment, it emphasised deregulation, privatisation, competition and GDP growth. Rising inequality was justified by the promise that everyone would eventually benefit. A rising tide, we were told, would raise all boats.

After the collapse of Soviet communism, there appeared to be no serious ideological alternative. Globalisation accelerated. Markets expanded across borders. Wealth grew.

But many communities experienced a different reality.

Traditional industries closed. Economic activity became concentrated in major cities and financial centres. Ownership became increasingly detached from place. Many regions saw jobs become less secure and local economies more fragile. The benefits of growth were distributed unevenly. Since the 2008 financial crisis, Britain has experienced the longest period of real wage stagnation for at least two centuries. Public services have struggled under years of austerity, while wealth remains highly concentrated.

The consequences are about more than economics. When people feel economically insecure, disconnected from decision-making and unable to trust institutions, politics becomes more polarised. Economic insecurity has provided fertile ground for movements that promise protection from globalisation, distant elites and rapid social change. Some identify genuine grievances, but too often they respond by scapegoating.

This has left politics trapped between two stories. One puts its faith in markets, growth and global competitiveness. The other emphasises an inward-looking nationalism centred on borders and identity.

Neither addresses the deeper causes of insecurity and disillusionment.

We need a third story that starts from a different question: not how the economy can maximise growth, but how it can help people and communities flourish within environmental limits. This story values belonging, fairness, participation, wellbeing and care alongside prosperity. Instead of treating citizens primarily as consumers, it sees them as members of communities with shared responsibilities and interests. It recognises that healthy societies ultimately depend on healthy ecosystems.

Beyond the old models of left and right, the role of government should be neither to direct from above nor leave outcomes to global markets, but to create the conditions through which communities and businesses can generate value for society as a whole.

One practical expression of this vision is community wealth building. The principle is simple: wealth generated in a place should benefit that place. Public institutions can use their purchasing power to support local businesses and cooperatives. Communities can increase local ownership of assets and retain more wealth locally. Economic development becomes something done with communities rather than to them. Elements of this approach are already visible in Wales through local procurement initiatives and social enterprise networks.

This story is about more than economics. People need good jobs and decent incomes, but they also need respect, a sense that they matter, and belonging. Much contemporary politics thrives on outrage, resentment and division. Yet neither markets nor governments function well when trust breaks down. Economies depend on relationships. Communities depend on kindness, respect and a willingness to work together despite our differences.

Some of the most hopeful examples already exist in Wales. The vision for the future of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park is organised around creating communities that are caring, collaborative, thriving, and connected. In many ways, it expresses a distinctly Welsh idea of prosperity. In Wales, we have a word for a particular kind of belonging to place: cynefin. It describes the relationships between people, community, culture, and landscape that help us feel rooted and at home. The Welsh Government's economic mission likewise speaks of building trust and connection between people rather than feeding the forces of hate and division.

Yet there remains a tension within Welsh economic policy. Plaid’s economic argument has increasingly focused on productivity and competitiveness, including ambitions to close Wales's productivity gap with the rest of the UK. Productivity matters, of course. Communities need jobs, incomes and investment. But if Wales judges economic success primarily through productivity, places such as rural Wales start the race several lengths behind London.

Productivity measures the market value of economic output, not the full social, cultural and environmental value that places create. A farmer in Ceredigion, a carer in Machynlleth or a teacher in Aberystwyth may contribute enormously to societal wellbeing while generating less measured economic output per hour than a financier in Canary Wharf.

The question is not whether productivity matters, but whether it should be the principal measure of what we value. The challenge for Wales is not to choose between prosperity and wellbeing. We need to redefine prosperity itself.

At a time when distrust and division are growing, this offers something increasingly rare: an economi cynefin, an economy organised around belonging, where prosperity is judged not simply by market value, but by the strength of our relationships with each other, our communities and the places we call home.

Can the Plaid-led Government go back to its roots and show that Wales's future prosperity lies not in chasing London, but in building an economi cynefin based on belonging, community and care?

The author is Professorial Research Fellow at Aberystwyth Business School and a One Spirit Interfaith Minister.