The Editor's Post: Will Scotland be the first country to put a brake on the 21st century capitalism juggernaut?

Do you sometimes feel powerless in the face of the 21st century capitalism juggernaut as it wreaks havoc across the world – the latest oil price escalations being just one of its many destructive effects. Even as a member of the Pioneers Post community – one of the amazing people working hard to make positive change – it’s sometimes impossible not to occasionally feel that all our efforts won’t divert that juggernaut from continuing to drive a path of destruction across our planet.

But, as Neil McInroy highlights in our lead story this week, Scotland has just passed a law that has big ambitions to put a stop to all this. The new Community Wealth Building Act is a “milestone”, says McInroy. It recognises that the country must not focus solely on economic growth and attracting external investment, but that it should aim to build strong local economies that are properly rooted in its cities, towns and villages.

McInroy, a key player in the global movement of community wealth building, emphasises that this is not some technocratic exercise dreamed up by “lofty elites or the progressive chattering classes” (his journey into this work came from becoming disillusioned with New Labour’s well-financed regeneration efforts in the UK which never reached deeply enough to properly change the system). The underlying theory and the resulting legislation really should create real transformation.

In fact, as McInroy points out, the law is big news for social entrepreneurs because it centres their businesses, alongside co-operatives, development trusts, community-owned and employee-owned firms, as key players in their local economies. As we at Pioneers Post have often highlighted (in, for example, this piece by Mark Swift), public procurement is a powerful tool, and under community wealth building legislation it should be used to much more effectively drive economic change, opening up new opportunities for social enterprises. Social entrepreneurs, he says, have a responsibility to step forward “as co-designers and producers of the new economic system”.

This isn’t just a Scottish story either. The community wealth building movement grew out of the pioneering activities in Cleveland, Ohio, and Preston, England, and many other locations are now showing an interest in it. Amsterdam, as we reported recently, is running its own pilot of the model in one of its most deprived districts.

That feeling of powerlessness can stem from us believing that the economy is an immutable natural force – like gravity. But, as many commentators have pointed out (like Jo Swinson of Partners for a New Economy speaking here, Kristoffer Lundholm of futures lab Sally here, and Hans Stegeman of Triodos here) the economy is shaped by humanity, it’s a social creation – which means that we can decide how it works. 

Scotland’s lawmakers have taken a step to reshaping their country’s economy. Where will be next?

This week's top stories: 

Why Scotland’s Community Wealth Building Act is big news for social enterprise – and the country's economy

'We don't want to waste this crisis': how to build momentum for change

Updated: Our listing of social enterprise and impact investing events in 2026 and beyond

The Impact World this Week: 16 April 2026

Top image: The Kelpies, a Scottish landmark (credit: William Ogilvie, Flickr)