Originally Posted by
JamesWales
Not sure it's quite as simple as that, and of course it took Ireland many decades to catch up, but catch up they did and I don't doubt that an independent Wales or Scotland (or North East England, or Isle of Wight or any other land mass would go onto have as viable future with good governance. There is no relationship between state size and success, although of course in terms of natural resources, size can help
That is probably Wales' greatest strength. A disproportionately large amount of wind, tides, water etc. In other areas we could compete with Everywhere in time and with education, investment and tax policies etc.
Long term is probably fine then. Short term, I don't think so. We would face a very large budget shortfall almost immediately and I'm not sure who would lend to us to plug that gap with a realistic expectation of getting their money back.
The ideological and identity issue is different of course, as this is 'more heart than head' but even there I feel strongly British so I don't feel any great aching for independence in that respect either.
With young kids, I just don't see it as being worth the risk really and I have seen very little to convince me otherwise.