News & Views

You’ve heard of the Celtic Tiger, Ireland’s symbol of rapid growth. But what about the Scottish Lion? Not a roar for unbridled development, but a call for a more innovative, democratic economy. One where all Scots – communities, businesses, and workers – share in the wealth we create.

Fanciful? Maybe. But let’s be honest: our current economic model isn’t working. It’s failing too many people and places. The cost of living crisis seems to have no end, child poverty remains unacceptably high, and we face a growing climate catastrophe. These aren’t isolated issues. They are symptoms of an economy that extracts more than it shares, and pollutes more than it protects.

This isn’t new. Scotland’s economy has long been shaped by extraction of land, of materials, of labour, and resources. From the Highland Clearances to the industrial era, wealth generated in mining and shipbuilding flowed out of working-class towns into distant hands. Even today, profits and dividends from Scotland’s renewable energy boom risk following the same path. This legacy needs to end.

That’s why we need Community Wealth Building. And with forthcoming legislation, we have a real chance to start a new economic journey.

The defining feature of all economies is wealth and Community ‘Wealth’ Building changes the patterns of wealth flows. Instead of wealth being siphoned away from our local areas and regions, or concentrated in the hands of few, this approach ensures that wealth remains in our communities, places and nation. It’s a shift away from remote corporate boards or impersonal market forces.

Across Scotland, this vision is here and new practices and patterns of wealth are emerging. Public institutions are directing their procurement toward local businesses and community and worker-owned enterprises, though a belief that big business is better remains. The principles of fair work are gaining traction, though too many workers continue with poor pay and conditions. 

Community-led ventures, cooperatives, and social enterprises are expanding, yet still operate on the fringes to the economic mainstream. More democratic control over land and property is emerging, but financial tools remain limited and land reform lacks sufficient strength.

Above all, the flow of capital continues to favour centralisation. The financial system rewards unfettered accumulation often through distant ownership, rather than nurturing social productivity and local firms.

These reflect the five pillars of Community Wealth Building. They’re promising – but not yet enough. Progress is stop and start, held back by the aged promises of ‘regeneration’, and short-term funding. Without stronger coordination, the transformative potential – and promise of economic democracy – risks being lost.

The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill, introduced earlier this year, offers a chance to change that. If passed, it will place a legal duty on local authorities to develop action plans – aligning economic development, investment, land use, workforce strategy, and finance with community needs.

Public bodies will be required to support delivery, and the Scottish Government must publish a report showing how CWB fits with national strategy – signalling a whole-of-government commitment to community-rooted wealth creation.

But here lies a deeper challenge: Scotland is good at progressive policy, but poor at delivery. We have bold ideas and strong values – but lack the structures and plans to make them real. Too often, ambitions are watered down, lost in bureaucracy, or left to drift.There’s growing rhetoric fatigue. 

People hear warm words about fairness and transformation, but see little change in daily life. Community Wealth Building must not become another well-meaning concept that fails to deliver. It must be more than a slogan. It must be a system.

So, these new place-based plans are not just policy, they’re strategy in action. They steer economic change and open up decision-making, putting economic democracy into practice.

A key area to tackle is in renewable energy. Scotland’s wind, wave, and tidal resources are driving a new energy future  –  a new economic sector. But there is a real risk that profits will be extracted. 

We must not repeat past mistakes as with oil and gas, when too much of the gain was extracted to shareholders and owners far beyond Scotland’s shores. Without greater community and municipal ownership, we risk wealth flowing away rather than to us.  Community Wealth Building offers a better way, ensuring energy generation benefits the communities where it happens.

Still, skepticism remains. A kind of “aye been” mindset; the belief that progressive economic change isn’t possible here. That Scotland is too small, too peripheral, or too constrained by inherited global systems. However,  Scotland’s history is full of radical ideas and movements. Community Wealth Building is part of that tradition, not a break from it.

Some fear it may threaten established ways.  A fear that doing things differently risks investment or unsettle the status quo. But doing things differently is exactly what’s needed.

Community Wealth Building doesn’t reject enterprise, innovation, or investment. It reimagines them so they serve people and place. It doesn’t abandon what we’ve had. It radically matures it, adapting economic thinking to today’s realities and tomorrow’s demands.

This isn’t about chasing a fleeting economic moment. It’s about shaping a lasting one. A future where Scotland’s economy is rooted in community, resilience, and economic democracy.

Let the Scottish Lion roar.

Oban-based Neil McInroy is chair of the Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) and global lead for community wealth building at The Democracy Collaborative