Indyref 6

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Welcome to indyref 6

Spidergirl8 asked close to end of last thread:

What impact would independence have on fiscal policy and economic stability
What impact would the ageing population have on the future
Is the predicted future a positive one, based on fact

If the bite goes no, what has actually been achieved? Does that not just put Scotland on the back foot?

Let's try and give not too biased answers please!

Statistically- I think bailing out the banks has been a disaster. I'd have let them go bust then 'bail out' the consumers.

We have thrown billions at the banks and what benefit has it brought? Our economy is still not back to 2007 levels, 7 years on, that is even worse than the Great Depression.

We are not in recession.

Chelsy I think property would have to be a target. It would be a populist policy too given lower home ownership rates.

Ah Chelsy, I've so missed your relentless optimism and good cheer on this thread

I am very afraid.

Those were not my words but those of Nobel Prize Winning Economist Paul Krugman.

The use of the slogan "Project Fear" has been used to reduce the fear. That is, to dismiss the bad economics and the economic risks of going it alone.

ItsAll : You and your Gordon Brown photo meant yet another restless night!

In Norway, each municipality is responsible for setting tax levels on property ownership. I could see this in Scotland, but also perhaps the introduction of stealth taxes on property, such as annual inspections costing a large fee, with the only contractors allowed to carry them out authorised by that local authority. If your property fails the annual inspection, you would have no choice but to pay for over-inflated work required, again carried out by a limited number of favoured contractors.

But don't complain that's a breach of EU competition law or your human rights - neither would apply in an independent Scotland.

I'm a few hundred miles from Scotland, but if I listen carefully I can just hear a drone.
It sounds a bit like bagpipes, but it's actually thousands of people with fingers in their ears going 'la la la la'.

When Salmond has retired to write his memoirs, which won't be long after independence because he will he achieved his one ambition, I predict you will look back at what he achieved in just the same way as we now look back at Blair.

Worth reading Paul Krugman article in today's NY times :

www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/opinion/paul-krugman-scots-what-the-heck.html

Norway levies 1% net wealth tax on a person’s global net wealth, i.e. irrespective of where the assets are situated, based on residency in Norway. It kicks in after other taxes have been paid on what is left.

I was just coming to link the Krugman article. Nobel memorial prize in economics winner no less.

And we get this with a no vote:

"A resurgence in growth during 2013 and predictions that the recovery will accelerate this year will not spare the post-2015 administration from having to make the deepest cuts since 1948 across Whitehall, local government and the welfare budget, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies."

"The chancellor extended austerity to 2018-19 in his autumn statement after lower-than-expected growth reduced tax receipts and swelled the welfare budget. The IFS said the extension means that by the end of this financial year, 60% of planned spending cuts will be yet to come. The ambitious scale of cuts would put the UK on course to have a budget surplus by 2018-19, its first since 2000-01, but national debt would still be 76% of gross domestic product (GDP)."

"Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said it would be possible to achieve a budget surplus in the annual accounts in 2018, but only by imposing an extra 30% of cuts on "unprotected" areas of spending, excluding schools and health."
www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/05/ifs-green-budget-george-osborne-cuts

Not looking so rosy if we stay either Both Yes and No votes have many negatives.

Never mind. Salmond can always shout at the other Heads of State when they point out his country doesn't meet entrance criteria for the EU and the ECHR, and Sturgeon can always lecture them and tell them they are being fearties.

I have to say the time to sell your house has probably gone, if you didn't do it in the last couple of years.

Norway levies 1% net wealth tax on a person’s global net wealth, i.e. irrespective of where the assets are situated, based on residency in Norway. It kicks in after other taxes have been paid on what is left.

Is that unreasonable?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28929433
"A Nobel Prize winning economist has described the row over what currency an independent Scotland would use as "a lot of to do about nothing"

These pesky Nobel prize winners! Just can't agree on anything...

I would like to see the 50% tax rate back but I don't think the basic rate should increase.

Thought that would be the case, so not really all that keen on the Scandinavian model in reality.

If Scotland vote 'yes' do you think the English will ensure that they never spend their pounds benefitting your new nation? I would imagine there will be a lot of that.

Going it alone really is going to mean going it alone.

Would that be the Nobel Prize winning economist boffin who works for the SG?

Nearly time for another thread -can someone start one please?

We have a strong suspicion that Scottish tourism, a lot of which comes from England / Wales / NI will take a dive. Why travel to a country that has just voted to reject you. Already the tourists who come are paying high prices, travelling long distances and coping with less than excellent weather. I suspect their "staycations" will be in Cornwall and Wales, not in the Highlands and Islands.

Thought that would be the case, so not really all that keen on the Scandinavian model in reality.

Depends who you ask. I'd like to see all tax bands go up significantly, as well as the lower threshold.

Would that be the Nobel Prize winning economist boffin who works for the SG

I think advises rather than works for? But yes, the ScotGov certainly make sure their advisors know their stuff.

Good morning.

A thought: the WM govt has been criticised (fairly?) for not offering Scotland 'Devo Max'. At the last minute we are being offered something very close to Devo Max if there is a no vote.

If this was your preferred option and you are angry with WM for now using it apparently as a bribe, vote no. A yes vote to punish a complacent government will hurt the people of Scotland and the people in rUK.

The timing of this announcement reflects badly on WM, IMO - and I'm a no voter! IMO it's like the recent promise from the SNP that free childcare will be provided by the Scottish gov't - I mean, why haven't they already introduced it? It smacks of a bribe from SNP to undecided female voters.

But it demonstrates that the WM gov't is listening to the Scottish electorate now, finally. The preceived 'democratic deficit' is being talked about now as a result of the inde referendum. We will get the changes the yes voters (and many no voters) hope for without having to break away from the UK.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2178961-IndyRef-7

Kaboom