The Scottish economy [October 1980]

In the light of recent developments, it is not surprising that the state of the Scottish economy remains depressed. The recently announced closure of the ICI factory at Ardeer, coupled with the predictions of reductions in the workforce of a number of Scottish manufacturing establishments suggests that the prediction that the Scottish manufacturing workforce will decline to 559 thousand by the end of the year will be fairly accurate. The government's intention is to pursue its twin strategies of reducing the rate of growth of the money supply and the level of public spending for the foreseeable future. Even though both sides of industry have pleaded for a reduction in interest rates, the Treasury has not been swayed by their arguments, believing that high rates of interest are the only effective means of controlling the rate of growth of credit. Requests for an expansion of public spending have been similarly set aside. This brief paper will provide further analysis of the latest Scottish economic and financial data.