Tax competition – that would be something to thank the Scots for

No obvious economic good has come from the devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament thus far, says Matthew Lynn. That could change with the introduction of tax competition.

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Nicola Sturgeon: stop complaining, start taxing

A 30% tax bracket. A rise in the standard rate, with a rebate for lower earners. Higher taxes all round to finance more spending. In Scotland, ahead of May's elections for the devolved parliament, a fascinating debate on tax and spending is under way, with the main parties setting out very different proposals (see below).

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.