Stem cascade

There is a term in economic theory called Cascading Failure. People in small country towns rely disproportionately on income from jobs such as shop assistants and retirement incomes. If one shop or small business closes those put out of work have less to spend in the other local shops which in turn will close, and so on.

Larger towns like Kilmarnock and Ayr have suffered from this type of failure set off by business closures, resultinginaresidueofunemployed who cannot move due the absence of affordable accommodation in towns which still have work. Stopping cutting the incomes of the lower paid by ever increasing taxation can offset the effects by keeping up expenditure in the many rural areas in Scotland. If the income of the lower income groups is boosted they will spend the money and will not have to resort to loan sharks for children’s Christmas presents.

A similar affect is the postchristmas crash. Those Christmas loans have to be repaid. We will also suffer after Christmas from yet another shameful increase in energy costs hitting the old and infirm particularly badly. That windfall money is going to investors all over the world at the cost of local businesses. If present trends of taxing the low paid and vast increases in power costs are maintained the overall effect will be to increase unemployment, hospital pressures and death rates. The Government will have even less to spend.

The Scottish Government has failed to do anything about energy costs or prepare for the coming storm of mortgage induced bankruptcies and homelessness. It must not ignore the welfare of its people, it must stop wasting money on dreams and attend to people’s welfare. The tax burden on the lower paid must be reduced and other ways found to prevent these cascading failures.