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It has taken me a couple of weeks to get through the report of Sustainable #GrowthCommission chaired by @AndrewWilson. It deserves serious debate/scrutiny by anyone interested in public policy in Scotland or wider UK. Some observations. Interested in views. @SGCommission
1. The report draws lessons about Scotland’s policy options and potential using a group of 12 successful small economies as a benchmark. It kills the myth that an economy can be too small to succeed.
2. The authors err on the side of caution when setting out the fiscal framework, so no relying on oil or faster growth to wish away the deficit, just a plan to bring it down by growing spending slower than the economy. This has been criticised, but what’s the alternative?
1/ Reading lots of interesting comments about the #GrowthCommission - which is good. So much better to be discussing how to build a successful independent Scotland than just resigning ourselves to managing the decline of Brexit UK. A few points worth underlining though...
2/ the report explicitly rejects austerity eg Part B p44 - “Scotland should explicitly reject the austerity model pursued by the U.K. in recent years” and recommends above inflation spending growth each year. A marked contrast to the failed Westminster approach.
3/ report also stresses importance of investment to boost economy and that fiscal targets should not be at the expense of growth - another sharp contrast with Westminster. Indeed, it recommends fiscal stimulus both in the independence transition and in periods of low growth.
The #GrowthComission report (yes, I'm struggling to read it, too) says:
"3.88 Maximising frictionless trade and market access with the rest of the UK and with Europe is of critical importance to the performance of the Scottish economy in the short and long term."
"3.88 Maximising frictionless trade and market access with the rest of the UK and with Europe is of critical importance to the performance of the Scottish economy in the short and long term."
This is almost certainly not possible, and absolutely certainly not in our gift. England and Wales (hereinafter #EW) seemed destined for a very hard crash out of the #EU. >>>
Given that that is so, there will be a hard border between #EW and any country which is in either the EU or EFTA. >>>
