The Birmingham riots are totally unacceptable, the looters and the criminals must face the full force of the law … yet I have been warning for months that our economic woes could contribute to problems of social cohesion. 

And sadly that has come to pass amidst disgraceful scenes which shame the city. 

The danger signs have been there - lack of jobs and high youth unemployment; an alienated generation growing up with few prospects and no stake in mainstream society; and a perception that the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening. 

There is even frustration within the police that they are not getting the full backing that they think they deserve - for example, I was told the other day how one youth had been arrested and charged maybe a dozen times yet walked free from court on each occasion. 

These trouble-makers are often well known to locals and the police. They should not be protected, but ostracised. 

Nevertheless, the worrying state of our economy is going to make it hard to address the current outpouring of hate from a section of society who appear to see themselves as disenfranchised and with little to lose. Ultimately, I think most will regret their actions, particularly those who subsequently find themselves behind bars. That will give them time to reflect on the stupidity of destroying shops and businesses, putting even more people out of work. But for the moment it must seem easy pickings, a step-up from shop-lifting … with seemingly few prospects of being caught. 

Who will want to invest in Birmingham now? I am convinced the region still has a lot to offer inward investors but this has made attracting them more difficult.

So, how have we got to this state? 

Ominously, the West Midlands could have to get used to a long period of austerity in which unemployment remains stubbornly high. 

We should not kid ourselves into thinking the regional economy is improving - it isn't. 

I admit I do not have solutions. And I can find little to be optimistic about. But everybody needs to remain calm. This is no time for knee-jerk reactions. 

You can only work out solutions if you first accept what is staring you in the face. Too many in authority don't want to face up to it. Traditional political approaches and vested interests must be put to one side.

There are two main measures of unemployment, one which is purely those claiming the dole and the other a wider snapshot inclusive of those out of work but not signed on. Yet there are huge numbers 'economically inactive' - nationally, those neither in work nor seeking employment reached 8.08 million in the last three months of last year, the highest on record. In all, 21.3 per cent of working-age adults fill a category that includes students, the long-term sick, unpaid carers and those who retire early. Some 78,000 of the inactive were recorded as "discouraged" workers, people who have simply given up because they do not believe there are any jobs available. 

And for decades successive governments have fiddled the true jobless figures, finding any means possible, short term training schemes and the like, to massage the numbers. 

Where it matters, on the ground, many of our graduates can't get work or are in menial jobs and even the likes of those sectors which once mopped up the low skilled aren't taking the same numbers on - supermarkets, for example, are now trying to persuade us to scan our own goods while banks cajole us into online banking. 

Most of our big manufacturing plants like Austin Rover, LDV, Lucas and Metro Cammell have been consigned to history. 

Factor in more public sector job cuts to come and I dread to think what the real level of unemployment is going to hit. 

You can coach people into putting together great CVs, you can teach them how to do interviews, you can send them on training scheme after training scheme … but if the jobs aren't there it is all a waste of time. Better to spend that money generating an environment and improving business confidence so jobs can be created. 

The Government wants to force the 'spongers' and those 'pretending to be disabled' back into work … but there is no work. 

The West Midlands economy is becalmed. However, the 'black economy' is flourishing. This is madness. 

Meanwhile, the UK economy, with GDP growth of 0.2 per cent, was on a par last quarter with virtually bankrupt Greece. 

Our two main export markets, the United States and the Eurozone, are in disarray. 

Even manufacturing, for a while doing well on the back of that export success, seems to have run out of steam. Britain's leading measure showed a contraction as the manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.1 in July from 51.4 in June, as consumers cut back in the face of the Government's fiscal squeeze. The latest manufacturing output figures for June from the Office of National Statistics were down 0.4 per cent albeit up 2.1 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis. 

Politicians, banks, the Press, the City et al continue to be obsessed with short-termism - the Government tinkers with our problems rather than getting to grips with them. Our economy needs drastic rebalancing towards innovation and manufacturing.

We need a manufacturing strategy; we need a regional strategy; indeed we need a national recovery strategy. The politicians must focus on what is important and what will make a difference. 

Only the brightest and best businesses will survive. The whole nature of competition is changing. 

And what economic improvements do come through will, for the most part, merely create work for machines rather than people. 

Long term, HS2 London to Birmingham high speed rail, the Birmingham airport runway extension and enterprise zones may lead a fight back. 

But what we need are jobs now … and there aren't anywhere near enough. 

None of this excuses the outrageous conduct of those who 'trashed' Birmingham city centre and who are probably proud of having done so. 

But it is an explanation of where we are and how big the task is. And we need to recognise that if we are to do something about it. 

Society is fractured, our national debt is at unsustainable levels, joblessness is widespread and we have an economy wobbling close to recession. 

It is a dangerous combination which our politicians under-estimate at their peril. 

We have some great community leaders in the West Midlands. It is time for all of us to get together to tackle these challenges. And I would appeal to business leaders to review and improve their corporate social responsibility policies. In times like this business needs to get closer to its roots in society.