ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the actual and potential role of some of the more important governmental and quasi-governmental economic institutions in Scotland. It deals with a comprehensive list of agencies: discusses just some of those which have a potential to operate with some degree of autonomy from the UK, and the nature of the constraints which inhibit their freedom. The chapter aims to describe a more direct treatment of the economic outlook for Scotland and reviews the current state of the art in formal econometric modelling for Scotland, and also discusses what is implied by the limited work so far undertaken in that direction. The most important long-term consideration for Scotland is the use made by the UK government of the tax and balance-of-payments windfalls represented by the existence of the oil. There is growing literature on the general subject of external control in Scotland and in particular the possible role of multinationals in regional development.
