North Sea tax revenues plummet to negative for the first time in sector's history

[Troll]

a union of respected equals in its current form.

Since it only came into existence to bail out a bankrupted Scotland, how could you expect it to be equal?

[scooterscot]

Future Scottish money will be on the back of selling water to the English as chronic drought becomes the norm in the summer months in the Southeast of England. Oil never had a future, so it's better to face this reality going in, but regardless both votes SNP come May.

€110 a barrel

[seanraaron]

Since it only came into existence to bail out a bankrupted Scotland, how could you expect it to be equal?

If I recall my history that was partially due to the failed Darian colony and partially due to a threatened embargo by the English combined with bribes for the Scottish landed elites in exchange for binning the parliament in Edinburgh. The people were certainly not consulted, nor did they vote on the issue (not that you had anything remotely like democracy in Europe at the time).

You're right, it's never been a union of equals, which is why some people aren't that sentimental about it.

[WTFH]

€110 per barrel?


So, why convert from Scottish currency to Euro - which then will be converted back to GBP?
Why not just do it in Scottish currency?

[seanraaron]

€110 per barrel?


So, why convert from Scottish currency to Euro - which then will be converted back to GBP?
Why not just do it in Scottish currency?

You mean the pound? You can have your pick of three flavours of notes up here. Until forced to join the euro, can't see a reason to change that.

[WTFH]

You mean the pound? You can have your pick of three flavours of notes up here. Until forced to join the euro, can't see a reason to change that.

If Scotland leaves the UK, it can't use the UK currency without reaching an agreement, having one central bank which sets the interest rates, controls the printing of money, manages inflation, etc.


i.e. not independent at all.

[seanraaron]

If Scotland leaves the UK, it can't use the UK currency without reaching an agreement, having one central bank which sets the interest rates, controls the printing of money, manages inflation, etc.


i.e. not independent at all.

You think all the countries using the euro or the US dollar have agreements in place? They're subject to the whim of the people who own the currency and can't print notes. It would have risk associated with it and clearly Scotland couldn't keep on printing notes, but Scotland could certainly keep using sterling.

[MrMarkyMark]

Scotland could certainly keep using sterling.

Not if they went truly independent.

[OwlHoot]

The end game is beginning to unfold. Increasing interest rates and inflation to erode our debt will no longer save us. The credit card bill is going to come in one day and we'll have a missed payment.

I reckon it'll start when one of the rating agencies downgrades the UK. ...

Yes, but the UK is still one of the better looking horses in the glue factory.

From the article:

The new data has shattered the most recent official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which had predicted in July the sector would generate £700m for the Treasury this year, and undermined even more optimistic predictions by the Scottish government.

I wonder how that new Scottish Independence campaign is going.

[seanraaron]

Not if they went truly independent.

So you don't consider El Salvador or Ecuador independent countries? They both use the US dollar and have no agreements in place with the United States around currency use that I'm aware of.

Heck Zimbabwe dumped its own currency and uses a mix of foreign ones - pretty sure they aren't printing rand or Aussie dollars or wharever.

And there's a stack of little countries outside the eurozone using the euro. I think Montenegro is the biggest of the lot.

Just to be clear, I'm not making a value judgment here. I'm just saying the rest of the UK couldn't do anything to stop Scotland using the pound if we really really wanted to post-independence.