Scotland's Economy After 25 Years Of Devolution - The Scottish Government Under Scrutiny

12th November 2024

A new research paper published by Edinburgh University press sets out what has happened in the Scottish Economy. The report discusses SNP policies that do not stack up to the rhetoric of politicians

Andrew Goudie, Graeme Roy and David Waite cooperated for the report.

Conclusions
We make three final reflections on economic policy in what is often a politically charged and constitutionally fractious context.

First, on one level, those that thought that devolution would lead to a radical new set of ideas to transform Scotland's long-term economic fortunes may be disappointed. Where economic performance has improved this has tended to be relative to elsewhere in the UK, but internationally Scotland continues to lag behind the best performing nations in the OECD.

Second, it is hard not to reach the conclusion that post-devolution economic policy has tended to be rather timid. There has been a remarkable consistency in approach, albeit language and presentation has differed. New ideas have come and gone, but the underlying economic challenges and opportunities remain. Whether this reflects a consistency of approach, or lethargy for change is an open question. The lack of scrutiny on what has worked and what has not worked is particularly noteworthy. Indeed, it is as hard to point to a policy of success as it is to point to one of failure, because the exercise has simply not been undertaken.

Third, while much has changed institutionally, it is reasonable to ask whether policymaking has improved as the quantity of scrutiny and accountability has grown, and whether more concern needs to be given to the quality of asking questions on ‘what works'. With several ‘grand challenges' likely to disrupt all economies in the decades to come - from demographics through to AI and climate change - a more targeted focus and greater evaluation will be needed.

Read the full paper HERE