Scotland can either accept austerity, or it can raise tax levels. So, if it wanted to maintain spending at current levels without transfers from the rest of the UK, it could. Nobody knows for sure. It is very likely there would be a temporary downturn. There is no doubt that there will be uncertainty, and possibly several years where we will struggle to boost the economy, but it should be noted that all of the income, and the assets of Scotland, (yes, the oil too), will be available to Scotland, and some of the cuts could readily be made in areas that arguably need to be cut.
Keywords