ECONOMIC policy in Scotland has hardly changed in 25 years of devolution, according to a new expert paper today.

Looking at post-devolution economic policy, the paper’s authors — Glasgow University economics professor and Scottish Fiscal Commission chairman, Graeme Roy, Glasgow University lecturer David Waite, and Strathclyde University’s Andrew Goudie — found a “remarkable degree of similarity” in approach in economic policy since 1999.

They argued: “Scotland remains in the bottom OECD quartile for international exports as a share of GDP.”

The group found that a “lack of scrutiny on what has worked and what has not worked is particularly noteworthy” and branded post-devolution economic policy “rather timid.”

They concluded:  “One is left with the impression of the economics of devolution as often being focused upon style rather than substance.”

SNP deputy First Minister Kate Forbes responded: “Scotland’s trade and competitiveness has been hit by the loss of the full and free access it once had to the European single market.”