Is today’s Scottish independence White Paper really an argument for independence? I ask only because the section on currency and monetary policy is essentially arguing for the union. It says:
‘The Commission’s analysis shows that it will not only be in Scotland’s interests to retain Sterling but that – post independence – this will also benefit the rest of the UK.
‘Under such an arrangement, monetary policy will be set according to economic conditions across the Sterling Area with ownership and governance of the Bank of England undertaken on a shareholder basis.’
It argues that a formal monetary union would be in both countries’ interest because the UK is Scotland’s principal trading partner, there is clear evidence of companies operating in Scotland the UK with complex cross-border supply chains, a high degree of labour mobility, similar levels of productivity and similarities on other measures, and ‘a relatively high agree of synchronicity in short-term economic trends’.
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