The Economic Consequences of Scottish Independence

Citation

Bell D, Eiser D & Beckmann K (eds.) (2014) The Economic Consequences of Scottish Independence. Hamburg, Germany: Helmut-Schmidt-Universitat/Universitat der Bundeswehr Hamburg. http://www.scotecon.org/pdf/SES-Indy-ebook.pdf

Abstract
On September 18th, 2014, Scots voted on whether or not to separate from the United Kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Union in 1707. In the event of a "Yes" vote, it was suggested that the official act of separation could occur in 2016, probably on March 24th, which marks the 413th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns. The debate in Scotland was unusual in the emphasis laid on economic issues. However, many contributions to this lacked either analytic depth or accessibility. This is why the Scottish Economic Society decided to devote its 2014 Policy Forum, held at the Society's Annual Meeting in Perth, Scotland, to the aim of filling this void. In keeping with the Society's constitutional aim to "to promote the study and teaching of economics on the widest basis, in accordance with the Scottish tradition of Political Economy inspired by Adam Smith", the brief was to provide an in-depth treatment of the issues involved that is nevertheless accessible to the general public. Professor Klaus Beckmann, at the time Honorary President of the Society, consequently invited Professor David Bell to organise a policy forum on the "Economics of Independence" on 29th April, 2014. In recognition of the success of this policy forum, a further decision was made to work the presentations into a book, adding further chapters by other distinguished economists. The book The Economic Consequences of Scottish Independence is being disseminated to all members of the Scottish Economic Society as well as being made widely available in PDF and ebook editions. The Scottish Economic Society provided financial support for the publication of the book. Given the time constraints involved in getting the book into press in time for the September referendum, Professor Beckmann's alma mater, Helmut-Schmidt-Universität in Hamburg, Germany, was selected as publisher. The editors and authors acknowledge the support of both institutions in the making of the present volume.