ABSTRACT
In the run up to the elections to the re-established Scottish Parliament, much of the economic debate in Scotland did not progress beyond the level of the simplistic headline. In response to this, six economics professors in Scotland wrote to ‘The Herald’ (30 April 1999) to complain about this approach to the serious economic analysis of the future development of Scotland. Reference in an accompanying article to ‘Economists in despair’ captured the feelings of our collective depression over the poverty of the treatment of economic arguments by the media, but especially by the politicians themselves. As this showed an almost complete denial of the rich landscape of literature on the political economy of devolution and federalism, this chapter seeks to return to the economic theory of government and policy intervention to try and provide a framework within which analysis can be undertaken of the implications and potentials offered by the Scottish Parliament.
