No crystal ball
This would be the same Treasury that allowed Gordon Brown to abolish boom and bust and nearly bankrupt the country.
It didn’t see the 2008 crash coming until it happened, so its forecasting is comical.
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Hide AdThe reality is that no-one can predict what is going to happen a year ahead.
What happens is based on too many factors. Some, like industrial policy, are in our hands. Others, like global recessions and other countries’ trading policies, are not.
We have to try and be flexible and respond to these outside factors.
The plain fact is that it is easier for a small country to respond to changes while a large country has more inertia.
Also, Westminster policies tend to respond to the needs of London and the South-east because of their importance, rather than the rest of the country.
Scottish-based policies can respond to Scotland’s differing needs.
Bruce D Skivington
Strath
Gairloch, Wester Ross