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Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

If you mean going from subsistence level farming to selling a few bags of potatoes I will give you that Ireland's economy increased but as a country Ireland has been a disaster, through most of the last century it had 13% emigration rates there was so little work!
It had no manufacturing to speak off, it has been perennially theorist least developed country in Northern Europe, it's only salvation was joining the EU.

They were also ranked to have the best standard of living in the world by The Economist in 2005. But really, Ireland is a sidetrack.

as a new country it will not be a member of the EU and will not be allowed to join until it has it's own currency and central bank, therefore using the pound in any form is out of the question.

Says you. Funny thing is, lots of stuff like this has been done.

Most newly independent countries don't have a central bank, yet every European country has been able to create one. Estonia in fact had a central bank for a year before they became independent. Scotland could probably do that too.

There will be no gradual transfer of power, it wouldn't be in the UKs interest really, this will be an immensely destructive event but 'ripping off the band aid' quickly is the best way to minimize the damage, uncertainty being worse than anything for an economy.

A few comments.

1) Obviously the legal transfer of legislative power would be an overnight thing, but that is not all there is to how an economy and how politics actually work. You seem to be completely ignoring the fact that there is nothing stopping the Scottish from negotiating trade deals that take effect from the day they become independent. If the UK wants to be difficult about it they can, but since the Scottish can sign those deals the day after they become independent, it's really mostly a matter of whether or not Scotland will find willing partners.

But really, UK will be the first in line to negotiate various trade deals and free movement deals with Scotland. There are tons of UK companies that have something going on in Scotland, and vice versa. Those companies and their employees and their families (plus every neoliberal capitalist) will have a vested interest in business running as usual. Those people will not care about who runs which country, they will want as little as possible to change in their everyday life. That's a lot of money and votes that the government of UK will want to salvage. (Not David Cameron mind you, I doubt he survives a "yes" vote.)

(Also; to stop free movement of trade and people between England and Scotland they would need to put up a border where none has existed for 300 years. Somehow I just don't see this happening.)

2) It only took tiny, poor and formerly socialist Slovenia 5 years to become a EU country after their independence. So why would EU membership be a significant hurdle to Scotland, which is a peaceful, well-liked, English-speaking (sort of) capitalist country that has an economy among the top 20 in Europe?

3) You also seem to keep forgetting that Scotland already IS a country, with it's own parliament, it's own police and it's own bureaucracy. They're just not independent. If Scotland would vote yes, they would probably be the best positioned country in human history to go on with their independence.



The only reason why they couldn't join the EU is because other European countries are worried about the example they'll set in places like Catalonia and Padania. However, that's a struggle between capitalism (which wants free trade) and regional governments. I think at this point in history there's not much question which side wins those battles.