high taxes, bad roads; On the other side of welfare economics in Scotland we return to the legacy of Smith and Hume in the birthplace of the idea of liberty.
When Scotland abandoned its heritage as the birthplace of free market ideas, it did not descend into poverty, but into mediocrity.
In the late 18th century, Scotland was an economically backward region that had been ruled from afar since 1603. But Scotland had deep connections with the intellectual life of Europe and produced some of the greatest thinkers of the era. Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, William Cullen, Lord Kimes, Hugh Blair, Dugald Stewart, Adam Ferguson and others founded a fruitful liberal tradition.
Scotland must be rich. The energy of the North Sea can be the fuel of advanced industries (high-tech) that will replace the old closed factories. Its traditional universities should attract the best talent in the world.
Instead, Scotland is a heavily indebted country and part of another heavily indebted country.
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