Friday, January 21, 2005
LET SCOTLAND GROW - HERALD LETTER
In reply to Mark Ballard (Letters, 17 January), for a Green Party spokesman to accuse the Scottish Executive of being too active in pursuing growth is a bit like accusing our national football team of being too successful.
World average growth this year is expected to be 5 per cent; Scotland will be lucky to achieve 2 per cent. The reason for this is that governments in Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels practise a dilute version of the anti-technology, nanny statist and anti-capitalist policies which, in a pure version, form the subtext to almost all Green Party policies.
Mr Ballard hits a better note in saying the pursuit of happiness is more important than wealth. But such, fairly imprecise, methods of measuring as exist show that the happiest nations (Ireland and Switzerland) are those where freedom and enterprise are acceptable, and the most unhappy are those where it is not (Zimbabwe and Haiti).
NEIL CRAIG
The original report is on here at economist.com & is well worth reading.
World average growth this year is expected to be 5 per cent; Scotland will be lucky to achieve 2 per cent. The reason for this is that governments in Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels practise a dilute version of the anti-technology, nanny statist and anti-capitalist policies which, in a pure version, form the subtext to almost all Green Party policies.
Mr Ballard hits a better note in saying the pursuit of happiness is more important than wealth. But such, fairly imprecise, methods of measuring as exist show that the happiest nations (Ireland and Switzerland) are those where freedom and enterprise are acceptable, and the most unhappy are those where it is not (Zimbabwe and Haiti).
NEIL CRAIG
The original report is on here at economist.com & is well worth reading.
