First meeting for Fiscal Commission

Published on 28/08/2012 00:00

The group of experts which will help draw up Alex Salmond’s blueprint for the fiscal and economic framework in an independent Scotland held its first formal meeting yesterday.

The Fiscal Commission Working Group will advise on the creation of a Fiscal Commission, which the SNP hopes will secure financial responsibility and market confidence.

Sir Jim Mirrlees and Professor Joseph Stiglitz, both Nobel laureates, and profs Andrew Hughes Hallett and Frances Ruane will oversee the work of civil servants in laying down a fiscal architecture for Scotland. Yesterday’s meeting was chaired by Crawford Beveridge, who heads up the First Minister’s Council of Economic Advisers, with Mr Salmond and John Swinney also in attendance.

Mr Beveridge said: “We had a huge breadth of knowledge and experience around the table.