1st Edition

The Scottish Economy A Living Book

    372 Pages 77 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    372 Pages 77 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Scottish economy is at the heart of contemporary constitutional and public policy debates. This substantial new edited collection, the first comprehensive and authoritative analysis for more than 60 years, is a timely update on the classic volume of the same name edited by Sir Alec Cairncross in 1954. It is data rich, and offers links to updatable data and leading indicators of the Scottish economy including measures of public finances, distributional evidence and growth.

    Readers will find a series of easy to follow chapters covering the Scottish economy from every angle – oil and gas, health, education, finance, rural Scotland, inequality, climate change, gender and work, housing, infrastructure and cities. Each sector-based chapter explores the main issues, draws out key empirical facts and considers policy challenges that lie ahead. This book includes: an historical account of the development of the Scottish economy; the trajectory of economic policy in Scotland; reviews of the current fiscal position and the wider economic landscape; and also an intriguing insight into the emerging distinctive approach to Scottish public policy.

    This book brings together evidence and high quality research by experts on the Scottish economy in a politically neutral, accessible and non-technical way. The volume will assist readers in navigating their way through the many political debates about constitutional and economic futures that are underway in modern Scotland and the UK.

     

    A website also exists to accompany The Scottish Economy - www.scottisheconomy.scot. In today's inter-connected world, it makes sense to have a book on the Scottish economy supplemented by online access to important data, information and evidence as a means of  keeping material current.

    Contents

    List of Figures and Tables

    About the Authors

    Foreword

    Frances Carincross

    Acknowledgements

    Chapter 1 The Scottish Economy: Background and Context

    Ken Gibb, Des McNulty, Duncan Maclennan, Michael Comerford

    Chapter 2 Key Historical Trends in the Scottish Economy

    Jim Tomlinson

    Chapter 3 The Contemporary Landscape of the Scottish Economy

    David Bell

    Chapter 4 Fiscal Matters

    John McLaren

    Chapter 5 The Changing Scottish Population

    Robert E. Wright

    Chapter 6 Economic Policy Performance

    Stephen Boyle

    Chapter 7 Cities in the Scottish Economy: Patterns, Policies and Potentials

    Duncan Maclennan, David Waite, Anton Muscatelli

    Chapter 8 The Oil and Gas Sector

    Jo Armstrong, John Maclaren

    Chapter 9 Energy and Climate Change: Challenges and Policies

    Grant Allan, Peter G. McGregor

    Chapter 10 Changing Role of Women in the Scottish Economy

    Jim Campbell, Emily Thomson

    Chapter 11 Securing a Low Carbon and Circular Economy for Scotland

    Dan Barlow

    Chapter 12 The Education Sector in Scotland

    Kristinn Hermannsson

    Chapter 13 Inequality and Poverty in Scotland

    Nick Bailey, Des McNulty

    Chapter 14 Housing

    Kenneth Gibb, Anthony O’Sullivan, Duncan Maclennan

    Chapter 15 The Economy, Health and Well-being

    Neil Craig, Cam Donaldson, Marissa Collins, Farouk Saeed

    Chapter 16 The Scottish Financial Sector

    Edward Trevillion

    Chapter 17 Infrastructure and the Scottish Economy

    Duncan Maclennan, Iain Docherty

    Chapter 18 Local Government Finance

    Kenneth Gibb, Linda Christie

    Chapter 19 Scotland’s Rural Economies

    Mark Shucksmith, Jane Atterton

    Chapter 20 Government in Scotland

    Sir John Elvidge

    Afterword

    Laurence Hunter

    Index

    Biography

    Kenneth Gibb is Professor of Housing Economics and the Director of Policy Scotland, both at the University of Glasgow, UK.

    Duncan Maclennan CBE FRSE is Professor in Public Policy at the University of Glasgow and leads Policy Scotland’s work on cities. He is also Professor in the School of Management at St. Andrew’s University, UK.

    Des McNulty is Deputy Director of Policy Scotland and Dean, Public Policy and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Glasgow, UK.

    Michael Comerford, formerly of the University of Glasgow Urban Big Data Centre, now works as a data scientist for Agile Solutions, a Glasgow based information management consultancy, UK.