Scotland’s Economy and Stock Market

While the government, industry and economic development agencies of Scotland demand a lot of information about Scottish trade, the accuracy of this information is often difficult to verify. When it is correct, it is of great use in the development of industrial promotion strategies, international relationships and trade development.

Many of the problems arise due to the fact that Scotland is regarded as a region of the UK, which means taxes are collected by the UK standard. Thus, when it comes down to the National Accounts there is no legal requirement by companies to report at a sub-UK level. Hence in-hand estimates of UK exports from UK surveys are taken and based on Scottish employment numbers and a similar tactic is used for the destinations of exports. Most large corporations do not record their activities separately for Scotland, all that is needed is to report for the UK as a whole. This makes it increasingly harder to extract financial information from the UK figures for Scotland. For most imports into Scotland their original base will be an English port that will do the importing and then sell the goods directly to Scotland.

Scotland’s economy is integrated within the global economy through a mixture of international linkages even though it has a rather small in capacity. Because of this Scotland has been laid bare when it comes to developments inside the global economy. Thus, recently there has been a global slowdown, which has had a negative impact on the Scottish economy and its performance. The UK is Scotland’s main trading partner and is expected to grow with a projected estimate of about 1.9% from the OECD. This of course should have a positive impact on Scotland’s activities.

Since 1973 Scotland has not had its own trading place when it comes to company shares since Glasgow market combined with the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Unfortunately attempts at creating a Scottish stock market in the last twenty years have ended in disaster. However should the SNP be victorious at the polls this could create the necessary stimulus needed for its success and, if adopted by the SNP, it would bring together their party’s pledge of cutting corporate tax from 30% to a radical 20%. This would, of course, become very attractive to businesses and benefit the local market. Some senior financiers believe a reverse of movement of corporate advisers from Scotland to London would occur with the Scottish exchange.

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