Ireland is still a success story - and Scotland could be too

On 14 October 2008, former European Central Bank economist Marc Coleman wrote an article in the Scotsman entitled:

"Ireland is still a success story – and Scotland could be, too"

(Ireland is still a success story - and Scotland could be too.)

Marc Coleman points out:

1. Ireland's government has protected bank deposits.

2. At 25%, Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio is the second-lowest in the European Union.

Recapitalising Irish banks will add seven percentage points to that, bringing it to perhaps the fourth-lowest.

3. EU and euro membership and a business-friendly tax regime, make Ireland a world beater in foreign direct investment and a home to leading high-technology multinationals.



4. Scotland's genius has given the world the television, the telephone, penicillin, much modern industrial practice and, of course, the science of economics.

5. The "arc of indifference", encompassing Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

In Scotland, London imposes policies designed for the south of England.

6. Ireland's economy grew by almost 90% in the past ten years, four times faster than the EU and three times faster than countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Ireland's average economic performance in the first decade of the millennium will remain streets ahead of the EU, OECD and UK.

VOTE SNP



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