Stuff That Interests Me

An independent Scotland could become the richest country on earth. I’m not joking. It has all the necessary ingredients. Let me explain.Each year the World Bank, the IMF and the CIA each independently publish a list of the richest countries in the world - as measured by GDP per capita at purchasing power parity.The UK sits at a rather disappointing 26th but topping those rankings, year after year, you have the likes of Qatar, Luxembourg, Singapore, Brunei, Norway and Switzerland.(I’m discounting Ireland because its figures are distorted by the number of corporations domiciled there)Some of these nations have got on that laist thanks to their oil. But oil isn’t everything – otherwise the likes of Saudi Arabia (17th), Russia (57th) or Iran (65th) or Venezuela (don’t know) would feature.Others have got there because they are financial or commercial centres. But the same regulatory options that have enabled them to be so are open to other countries - they have just not been adopted.T