Positive-case-for-the-Union update #14
Posted on
April 13, 2012 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
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A tall tale
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Well if its in the Mail it must be true…….We should sell our WMD assets to make up the difference. Teh question is does anyone believe this stuff anymore, apart from the usual crew on Scotsman and Herald comments pages.
You have to wonder at people who landed a job whereby they get to spend hours of their day dreaming up negatives about another country and reinforcing stereotypes.
I read the economist piece and there were a few flaws in their argument:
1) They brought up the Darien Scheme (again) as some sort of proof of an inherent flaw in the ability of Scots to survive independently.
2) When discussing the 'Arc of Prosperity' they did not mention Norway.
3) They claimed that small countries have suffered worst in the Global Recession – Norway, Sweeden, Netherlands, Denmark etc… not mentioned as evidence in contrary to that statement.
4) They assert that Scotland would suffer due to volatility in Oil prices and that its almost gone anyway… where have I heard that before?
5) They assert that Post Oil (50+ Years from now), Scotland would struggle to fill the gap in taxation by assuming that the wider economy will not be transformed by the investment possible from controlling our own taxation and resources.
6) They regurgitate the myth that Scotland will not be a member of the EU upon independence.
7) They roll out the line that Scotland would have been responsible for the entire Bank Bailout, when in actuallity the debts that would have accrued to Scotland would have amounted for only around 5%. The debts were covered by the countries in which they were liable, i.e. England (due to London Banking).
8) They assert that as such, Scotlands Financial sector would collapse. This is strange since Edinburgh is one of the largest financial centres in the world, ranked within the top 20 at least. This is international banking and as such would not have disrupted the Scottish Economy, except for short term loss of Corporation Tax (If the banks hadn't avoided it already)
9) They then go on to cast aspersion on the Scots by saying that Edingburgh was once known as the "Athens of the North" for its architecture, before saying it would be known in the future as the "Athens of the North" for its economic collapse.
The piece is biased from the get go and most importantly (and ironically given that it is the Economist)…
THEY DO NOT PROVIDE ANY DATA OR FIGURES OR QUOTES TO BACK UP THEIR ASSERTIONS.
Their analysis is as useful as a conversation overheard in a lift!
P.S. Apparently if you write 8 then ) together it comes out as 8)
**NOTE TO SELF**
Yeah, always best to go with "8." or "[8]" just to be on the safe side
I wonder what happens when you write 8 and ( 8(
Aha! A postive only blog.
8)
"8"
"8."
Pass me the crayons Nurse, please
"[8]" [8]e we?
Not the sharpest of chimeras, ar
On the fuel bills thing – this is inevitable surely, given we're moving to much pricier electricity generation methods. Fuel bills are going to rocket, in order to Save the Planet.
Not linked to Independence though, I think.
Mm. Fuel bills went up almost £200 last year alone, inside the Union…
http://www.uswitch.com/news/utilities/eon-price-rise-to-add-170-to-gas-and-electricity-bills–900001065/
They must have chuckled to themselves coming up with that map. Oh, the wit. It burns.
The economist seems to struggle to sink to new depths each year. You'd expect them to at least try a bit harder than the gutter press and live up to their name instead.