Insights from our Interim President, Eliot Lincoln, October 2026

Growth: The Conversation Jersey Needs to Have

Much of the public debate in Jersey today centres on cost.

Businesses talk about the rising cost of employment, regulation, housing, energy and taxation. Employees talk about the rising cost of living. Families feel the pressure of higher rents, mortgages and everyday expenses. It can sometimes feel as though the Island is caught in a cycle where every challenge is met with another cost, and every solution seems to create a new burden elsewhere.

Recent years have seen significant legislative change. Increases to the minimum wage, family-friendly employment rights, discrimination legislation and proposals for workplace pensions are all intended to deliver positive social outcomes. Most business leaders understand and support the principles behind these initiatives. We all want a fair, inclusive and prosperous society.

However, each new obligation carries a cost. Those costs do not simply disappear. They are absorbed by businesses, passed on to consumers or reflected in wages, prices and investment decisions. As a result, the debate often becomes polarised, with different groups arguing over how the burden should be shared.

But perhaps we are asking the wrong question.

Instead of debating how we divide the existing economic pie, we should be discussing how we make the pie bigger.

Economic growth is not a silver bullet, but it has one remarkable characteristic: it makes almost every problem easier to solve.

A growing economy creates jobs. It attracts investment. It generates tax revenue without increasing tax rates. It improves career opportunities, raises productivity and supports higher wages. Most importantly, it creates the wealth that allows us to fund the public services and social protections that Islanders rightly value.

A strong economy is a tide that lifts all boats.

If Jersey can create the conditions for sustained economic growth, many of our current challenges become far more manageable. The conversation shifts from scarcity to opportunity. Businesses are better able to absorb rising costs. Governments have greater resources to invest in infrastructure and public services. Individuals enjoy more opportunities to improve their standard of living.

The question, therefore, is not simply how we regulate the economy. The question is how we grow it.

This brings us to the role of government.

There is a tendency in modern politics to see government as the solution to every challenge. Yet history consistently shows that prosperity is created by entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and workers, not by government departments.

Government's role is vital, but it is different.

Its job is to create the foundations for success. To provide political stability. To invest in education and skills. To maintain infrastructure. To ensure the legal and regulatory framework is fair, proportionate and predictable. To create an environment where businesses have the confidence to invest and grow.

Then, in many cases, the most valuable thing government can do is step back and allow people to get on with creating opportunity.

Growth does not happen because policymakers announce it. It happens when talented people choose Jersey as a place to build businesses, invest capital, create jobs and develop careers.

That means we need to be asking ourselves some difficult questions. Are we attractive to entrepreneurs? Are we welcoming investment? Are we producing the skills our economy needs? Are we making it easy enough to start, grow and scale a business? Are we competing aggressively enough against other jurisdictions that are actively seeking the very opportunities we sometimes take for granted?

These are the questions that should dominate our economic debate.

Jersey has extraordinary strengths. We are politically stable, highly skilled, internationally connected and home to an innovative business community. The foundations already exist.

What we need now is a renewed focus on growth.

Not growth for its own sake, but growth that creates opportunity, improves living standards and secures the Island's long-term prosperity.

Because when the economy grows, everyone benefits. And that is a conversation worth having.