Scotland needs the agency that comes with independence, in order to take the actions required to build a better future
The UK Government’s “growth plan” was developed without any consideration of the needs and opportunities of the Scottish economy, a stark reminder that Scotland’s economic policy is characterised by helplessness rather than by the agency required to emulate the most economically successful countries, as argued in our first post on the importance of agency for Scotland’s economic future (https://thebottomline.scot/agency-and-helplessness-and-scotlands-future/).
This post has set out three measures that would boost economic growth and so begin to address the UK’s economic crisis:
Measure 1) Allow the immigration that the economy needs;
Measure 2) Rejoin the European Single Market; and
Measure 3) Incentivise innovation and entrepreneurialism to realise the huge economic potential in the transition to net zero.
These are only examples and successful policy needs to be about more than economic growth (as will be covered in forthcoming posts). They are examples of measures that have repeatedly been successful when implemented, including in the successful small advanced economies that have been outperforming the UK.
However, they are impossible to deliver in the UK political system since neither the Conservative Government nor a potential future Labour Government are prepared to argue for them, for fear of losing voters in the political environment that Brexit has created.