I agree with Tom Hunter that indy Scotland should emulate Singapore
That mega-successful city-state, founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, had free trade at its core, at a time when economists like Adam Smith had refuted the mercantilist nonsense of tariffs, and the idea of free trade as our natural right had not been crushed, post-World War One, by the dogma that only the state could grant rights.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Saturday's far-right counter-protests in Scotland
Of the larger pro-indy parties, Alba seems to be on the right track, rejecting the EU's incorrigible protectionism and focusing on the European Free Trade Association. As the Trump tariff fiasco has highlighted, protectionism hurts consumers most. Only exporters benefit from it, with their powerful lobbies constantly urging governments to grant them privileges.
The greatest ever send-up of this was Frederic Bastiat's spoof petition by candle-makers to France's Chamber of Deputies, urging them to stymie that intolerable competitor: the sun!
George Morton
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Emmanuel Macron waxwork is brazenly stolen from museum in France
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Geert Wilders' asylum protest triggers collapse of Dutch government
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EU antitrust regulators escalate Visa, Mastercard probe, documents show
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