Something in common

COMMERCIAL PROFILE - UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER:The downturn dictates that a new approach for the island of Ireland may be essential and that North and South should work together to offer common resources and services to all citizens

HE'S IRREVERENT, iconoclastic, never less than entertaining and very refreshing - and he's an economist. This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but only if you've never met Michael Smyth, head of the School of Economics at the University of Ulster. He's been commenting on the economies of both Northern Ireland and the Republic for several years and has always brought a fairly unique insight.

Last month he was among the keynote speakers at the first high-level North-South economic forum at Farmleigh in Dublin. The objective of the forum, hosted by trade and business development body InterTradeIreland, was to consider the implications for the economies North and South of the latest global economic developments, how and when the current downturn is likely to end, and the prospects for recovery.

With characteristic self-deprecation, he says he was very much a minor contributor on the day. "The speakers included people like Adam Posen - a member of the UK Monetary Policy Committee, Asian expert Linda Yueh, and Frances Ruane from Ireland. I was very much down the list in comparison to these top notch speakers," he claims.

But what Smyth had to say was very different to these other august personages. "The first three speakers were all unambiguously upbeat about global economic prospects", he notes. "Just as we plunged into recession very quickly we'll come out of it reasonably rapidly, was the consensus, except if policy mistakes are made. And the only real mistake that can be made is to tighten monetary policy too quickly. In light of these contributions, I decided to use the 15 minutes available to me to throw out something that's been in academia for a long time and only being picked up outside of that now."

He starts from the basis that there are two economies on the island of Ireland, and speaks about them in fairly unflattering terms. "One is a sovereign country with all the benefits that brings, and all the attendant problems it can bring as we have seen from recent events. The other is just a region of a much larger economy, with little control over events. I decided to throw out something to challenge the political and economic class on the island."

The challenge he posed has to do with the economic and social organisation of the island, with the Border being ignored for all practical purposes. "I worked with John FitzGerald of the ESRI on a paper on market failure North and South a number of years ago. One of our findings was that where the Border is a cause of market failure, the two Governments should intervene if they can do it more cost-effectively. We are now 11 years into the Peace Process; if the Trojan Horse has been sent to the knacker's yard, if the slippery pole has been degreased, and if the thin end of the wedge has been worn down to the size of a small pencil, then it is time for new thinking in terms of the Border."

And this new thinking has to do with what has become known as the "new commons". Charlotte Hess of the University of Indiana has defined these new commons as various types of shared resources that have recently evolved or have been recognised as commons. They are commons without pre-existing rules or clear institutional arrangements.

Old commons include the atmosphere and the oceans, radio spectrum and other shared natural resources which must be protected and regulated by governments for the common good. New commons, on the other hand, can include areas such as electricity transmission networks or telephone systems, which have only recently evolved.

American naturalist Mike Bergan makes the following point in relation to them: "Don't trust anyone who wants to take something that we all share and profit from equally, and give it to someone else to profit from exclusively. Our parks, waterways, and aquifers, our flora and fauna, our fresh water and fresh air - at least what's left of it - represent our shared natural heritage."

"The Earth is the ultimate common," Smyth points out. "We must manage it properly, because if we do not we will destroy it. But at a lower level there are all sorts of other commons, like the information common, the health common, the cultural common and so on. The idea is that a common is a hybrid between public and private goods.

"For example, if there is a Swine Flu pandemic later in the year, would it be better to deal with it separately or together on the two parts of the island? Clearly the answer is to work on it together, in a similar fashion to the way the Foot and Mouth epidemic was dealt with. And this can be extended to the health system as a whole. If there is an acute speciality in Belfast or in Dublin, why duplicate them?"

He refers to this system as co-management rather than joint authority, or any other such emotive terms. "It has to be based on a very simple set of non-threatening rules. It is not joint sovereignty or anything like that," he says. "What people like Jeffrey Donaldson want is stuff that delivers. They are not opposed to cross-border co-operation if it delivers. And you don't need cross-border political bodies for that."

While he identifies healthcare as one common, he believes there are other more exciting ones which hold great potential for co-management. "The know-ledge common is the most exciting," he claims.

"Both economies want intellectual property to be created and protected. The universities North and South are collectively good, but only OK individually. The number of commercial spin-out companies created by them is actually quite pathetic in comparison to international standards. There are ample opportunities for these sorts of commons to be developed and co-managed."

Smyth believes the new economic reality demands consideration of his views. "This is properly grounded in economic theory, and because it is based on scholarship it demands to be debated," he says. "You can get much better delivery of public and private goods this way if you want it, and it will fit in with the political issues. If you want to get real co-operation with unionists, then you have to get the North-South political bodies out of the way.

"The Border is a totally artificial and arbitrary construct in any case," he continues. "So many aspects of life do not respect territoriality. All I'm interested in is the most efficient solution, and getting people to engage in something positive."

It's certainly a compelling argument. Instead of the people of Donegal having to look towards Galway for healthcare, they would be looking to Derry or Belfast; the universities on the island could pool their resources, while transport, energy and telecommunications could all be co-managed for the common good without political let or hindrance.

Of course, it is likely to meet with fierce resistance from many who will equate it to a call for nationalisation of various sectors and aspects of life. Whatever, with Michael Smyth as one of the protagonists, the debate is sure to be entertaining.