Economy
Scotland needs its own currency
‘Post-independence, your plan makes as much political and economic sense as unilaterally adopting changes to the financial regulations of Singapore.’
Scottish child poverty targets
‘The challenge with setting ambitious targets is that parliament can be judged, not just on whether or not it is meeting these targets, but on the effectiveness of the reforms they are implementing.’
Basic income is feasible and affordable
‘This plan would pay £10,400 a year for a family of four, boost the incomes of the poorest households, cut poverty sharply, narrow the inequality gap, strengthen universalism and reduce dependency on means testing.’
Brexit lessons for #indyref2
Hence in the same sense that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ is a meaningless statement (without defining Brexit), then so too would ‘Independence means Independence’ be.
Brexit’s multi-billion hit on Scotland’s economy
‘All of these assumptions are necessarily educated guesswork. Add all the ‘worst case’ scenarios for each of these elements and you end up with an economy that shrinks by an eye-watering £11bn figure.’
Local government blame game
‘Fiscal responsibility is the flip side of fiscal autonomy. Those who argue for more money from the Scottish Government without proposing new powers for local government to raise own revenue are also playing a blame…
A question of trust
Auditors in England are under the cosh while the Scottish public audit model wins plaudits. But no room for complacency argues the Auditor General for Scotland
Scottish exports: where they really go
‘In short, (these) statistics confirm that putting up barriers with our largest international trading partner (EU) is only likely to weaken Scotland’s growth prospects’
UK’s remarkable energy transition
Looking to 2019, with more renewable capacity being installed, it is possible that solar could overtake coal, and renewables could generate more than nuclear for every single month. They could also generate more than coal…
VAT assignment – bridge too far for fiscal devolution?
A key aim of the Smith Commission was to improve accountability and make Scotland’s politicians responsible for the money that they spent. Unfortunately rather than helping to deliver this aim, the current proposals for VAT…
Inequality: Scotland’s unmet Nordic aspirations
Inequality in Scotland is on the rise. “It seems likely that more radical changes, such as significant redistribution of income, labour market reforms and major investment in deprived areas, would be needed to bring Scottish inequality close…
An end to austerity? UK and Scottish Budgets
‘In short, ‘ending austerity’ is possible with significant but not unrealistic spending increases. What makes a promise to end austerity politically difficult is that it cannot be achieved without tax rises if the government is…