Talking-up Scotland

(c) hoteldirect.co.uk

Reported in Insider yesterday, a survey by Savills revealed a massive £195 million investment in 2017. All of Scotland’s cities recorded increases with Edinburgh accounting for 64% of the total.

This makes Edinburgh the second largest ‘target city’ outside of London pushing Birmingham out of that position. Overseas investors accounted for £57.4 million of the total and, notably, invested seven times the 2016 figure. This is a major change.

Increases in tourism will be a factor in this – dramatic report coming.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-hotel-investment-soars-60-11872924

This is one of several indicators of ‘real’ economic health in Scotland reported here in the last year. See:

Reports of a strong Scottish economy just keep coming. Now debt decrees down 93% in the last three months

More evidence Scottish economy is strong: Demand for office space in Glasgow highest for ten years

Business booms in Scotland under SNP-rule

77% of Scotland’s small and medium-sized businesses report success as Scottish Government reports record numbers exempt from rates and in the wake of figures revealing much greater signs of distress among rUK businesses.

Scottish businesses report much greater optimism about their futures for the third quarter in a row but the Fraser of Allander ‘Institute’ can’t help scratching their ‘buts’.

Scottish businesses continue to show signs of health with insolvencies down 23% as the Scottish economy holds strong

Ruth and Kezia sob as they hear Scotland is ranked as the best place in the UK to start a business. Will this good news never end?

Scottish businesses showing signs of greater health than those in the rest of the UK

Of course, our media prefer to report on GDP and GERS despite their demonstrable lack of value as measures. Both, in the Scottish case, are largely based on estimates which cannot be confirmed. GERS was, of course, initially developed as a political tool to undermine the case for Scottish independence while GDP is heavily criticised by academic economists as it tends to reflect mostly growth in profits for corporations and shareholders with little if any feeding into wages and consequent real economic growth for the benefit of the mass of the population. See this for more on GDP:

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/01/18/beware-gdp-it-can-be-seriously-misleading/