Should Scotland Be Independent?

This year will see the referendum on Scottish independence. Considering the amount of press the issue is getting lately, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss what this could mean. Should Scotland be independent?

Oliver Rawlings readers you have to understand that this is a somewhat delicate issue. After all the Scots have always been somewhat ambivalent to being a part of the United Kingdom; the rise of the Scottish National Party, who have made Scottish independence a key element of their political platform, tells us this.

However what we have to look at are the financial consequences of such a move. Whilst Scottish independence is certainly an attractive prospect, the reality is that it is going to cost and considering the size of Scotland you have to ask whether it’s a cost they can afford.

Experts are coming out now and predicting that Scottish independence would cost millions of pounds. You can imagine why. There are so many costs that you have to factor in when establishing yourself as a separate nation.

Suddenly Scotland would be completely responsible for building its own army, government, infrastructure etc. There are a thousand costs that are attached to setting up a new nation and the reality is that Scotland would have to find the money from somewhere. Tax revenue may not be enough.

It’s a pattern you see whenever a new country is formed. Look at what happened to the post-Soviet Republics in the early 90’s. They had major economic hardship and the reality is that breaking away from the Soviet Union, as liberating as it was, cost them.

However currency is the issue that is worrying most people. Many in Scotland have said that they would like to keep the pound as their currency. They would certainly have to in the interim regardless, as setting up a new currency takes time and you have to have a transitional stage.

It’s the idea of a shared currency that is worrying economists everywhere. They look to the Euro and what happened there. Many economists say that the shared currency meant that when some nations saw economic hardship, the shared currency dragged others down with it. They point to the recent Eurozone crisis to illustrate the point.

Scottish independence is a tricky subject. At the end of the day it comes down to one question that voters will have to ask themselves. Is separation from the rest of the Union worth the literal cost that it will incur?