I spent last evening talking to Wee Ginger Dug - or, rather, Paul Kavanagh who blogs, writes and podcasts under that name. We did, perhaps inevitably, discuss GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland), but quite a lot else came up along the way. I repost this from the Wee Ginger Dug site:
This week, especially because it’s the week of GERSmas, I am delighted to be joined online by Professor Richard Murphy. Richard is perhaps best known in Scotland for his work on the GERS figures, but he has a wealth of experience in tax policy. He is a chartered accountant and political economist who campaigns on issues of tax avoidance and tax evasion. He is currently a professor of International Political Economy at the University of London.
We discuss the GERS figures and how in Richard’s estimation, “GERS is CRAP – Completely Rubbish APproximations.” He explains how he first got interested in GERS because of his interest in the way that numbers can be used to construct a political narrative, and GERS is a perfect example of this. The GERS figures are designed to show that Scotland has a deficit, and were so designed for a political purpose. GERS compares income WITHIN Scotland to expenditure FOR Scotland. Or more precisely to expenditure which is arbitrarily assigned to Scotland. This is not comparing like with like.
Using a hypothetical example he explains: “If Scotland had a real deficit of 3%, and England had a real deficit of 3%, GERS would show that Scotland had a much larger deficit than England.” He tells us how GERS is little more than a method of shovelling England’s debt onto Scotland.
It all makes for fascinating listening, and for once we had no technical issues with the sound.
John Jappy: Hiding the truth – YouTube
I enjoyed that and the above fits in well ,always good to hear how Scotland is very capable of standing on its on feet.
I really enjoyed that thanks Richard, it was nice to hear the relaxed chatty atmosphere of the interview, and, of course, a well-presented debunking of anything GERS related.
It’s good to see WGD taking an interest and the time too.
[Scott, I posted that video of John Jappy on a different article for Richard – thanks again for posting it before and bringing it to my attention.]
Thanks Contrary
I’m told I may get another invitation because it’s on The National as well tonight….
I think this cartoon summarises it (GERS) very well – a picture tells a thousand words and all that –
https://wingsoverscotland.com/by-gaslight/
(The lion represents Scotland, for those not familiar with Cairns’ work. Saturday’s are cartoon day)
Very good