Positive ideas for Scotland

WHY has Scotland’s economy persistently underperformed that of the UK? And why, despite skyrocketing public spending that has pushed the government share of the economy to among the highest in Europe, are we still struggling with poor healthcare, high levels of functional illiteracy and ever greater dependency? The Allander series of lectures, which concluded last night with summaries by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, and former CBI chief, Adair Turner, have provided valuable insights into

Some contributions were outstanding. From William Baumol came a valuable reminder of the importance of innovation. From Professor Edward Glaeser came a warning that the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh were in danger of "sparring themselves into irrelevance" and a plea for them to join forces to improve Scotland’s growth rate.

Professor Nicholas Crafts posed searching questions on Scottish public-sector performance, and illustrated how government bureaucracy can get in the way of improvements in productivity and performance. Professor Nicholas Bradley set out how Ireland "got it right" and why Scotland is still struggling. And Professor James Heckman provided arguably the best-researched and the most comprehensive paper, arguing that the key age group on which to concentrate are the pre-school under-fives and not those going to university.

The themes, well chosen by Wendy Alexander, merit further analysis and discussion, both by means of publication in a single volume and a series of further meetings to engage Scotland’s key business, academic and policymaking groups. Such engagement should not be seen as the end of this exercise, but a stepping-stone.