14 hours ago
As a cultural event, it may have had a sprinkling of Hollywood and Holyrood A-listers, but the reviews for the launch of Yes Scotland in an Edinburgh cinema on Friday fell some way short of critical acclaim.
I wasn't there, and can't judge the quality of the performance or entertainment. But what about the numbers and the claims being made at and around the launch? Perhaps it's time for a fact check.
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08:35 UK time, Monday, 21 May 2012
Maybe it's the Irn Bru syndrome - a Scottish exceptionalism that protects it from the ways of the outside world.
Just as Cumbernauld's most famous product makes this the only country where Coca-Cola and Pepsi don't have the leading fizzy pop brand (though, I'm told, only if you separate Coke from Diet Coke) perhaps this country considers itself uniquely protected from having to concern itself with the threat of a eurozone meltdown.
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21:09 UK time, Monday, 14 May 2012
It's previously been better known for its prawns and haddock. And now it's where technology, the economy, the environment and politics meet, on the bed of the North Sea between Peterhead and Bergen.
This is also one of the places that Europe is changing most. And at roughly £1.5bn for this one project, it's quite a challenge for the finance director.
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14:33 UK time, Sunday, 13 May 2012
Like leaping four centuries in one go: that's the reflection of John Glen, on the four years since he took over as chief executive of The Buccleuch Group.
Radical measures were needed, only weeks after he took on the job. The financial crisis pitched the Duke of Buccleuch's property portfolio into big losses: £18m on a turnover of £65m.
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20:33 UK time, Tuesday, 8 May 2012
What's the appeal to a Tennessee businessman of buying Rangers Football Club when he knew very little about it?
Apparently, it had to do with the prospect of the hair on Bill Miller's arms standing up as he witnessed the passion at an Old Firm match.
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14:17 UK time, Thursday, 3 May 2012
So Rangers looks set for ownership by a tow-truck tycoon from Tennessee.
The announcement about Bill Miller being named as preferred bidder came only four hours after Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England no less, was lured into commenting on radio about the financial problems at the Ibrox club.
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19:56 UK time, Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Do people who live amid mountains make for hardier survivors of economic downturn?
There may be an economics PhD to be written on this subject, but the Federation of European Employers (FedEE) has today taken a first stab at the idea.
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11:32 UK time, Sunday, 29 April 2012
The double dip into recession is now confirmed for the United Kingdom, but Scotland has to wait nearly three months to find out if it shared that unhappy experience this past winter.
Those who crunch the Scottish numbers chew over them rather slowly.
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15:29 UK time, Thursday, 26 April 2012
If you're not willing to fight for Scottish jobs and the Scottish economy, you shouldn't be in Scottish politics.
So says the First Minister. And who would argue with that?
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15:21 UK time, Tuesday, 24 April 2012
The euro-crisis-o-meter is registering alarming levels again. It's not so much the bond markets dictating terms to governments, as the electorate hitting back.
Even France and the Netherlands - relatively secure eurozone countries - are seeing political turbulence from the impact of austerity.
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16:36 UK time, Monday, 23 April 2012
Douglas added analysis to:
Edinburgh Airport's sale price is way over aviation analysts' expectations, which had been in the £500-700m range.
That's a signal of the value of the asset, and of its growth potential.
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15:53 UK time, Sunday, 22 April 2012
If you popped in for a paper or some milk at your convenience store this weekend, you may have noticed the boss was away.
That may be because he was in St Andrews for a weekend of rest, relaxation, no need to open the shutters for the morning regulars, and the conference of the Scottish Grocers Federation.
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19:54 UK time, Thursday, 19 April 2012
Anyone know the Korean word for 'stramash'? Maybe they'll adopt it in Seoul, after watching the fallout from the withdrawal of South Korea's Doosan Power Systems from its plan to manufacture wind turbines in Scotland.
The episode, which blew up a storm in Holyrood today, has several lessons, only one of which is for the Koreans about the fractious nature of Scottish politics. For more on that, read my colleague Brian Taylor.
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12:20 UK time, Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Douglas added analysis to:
Winter wasn't as bad as all that. There were many grim figures through the dark months, but now we learn the jobs market was picking up.
It's not just that the unemployment figures were improving, but also that job creation looked more robust.
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23:03 UK time, Monday, 16 April 2012
Show us the Singaporean dollars, then. That seems to be the message from the Blue Knights consortium, as it pulls back from its bid to take over Rangers.
It's not pulling out. It's still willing to return to the table. But despite being part of the Knights consortium, Ticketus has also been consorting with the rival bid from Bill Ng.
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15:03 UK time, Sunday, 15 April 2012
Edinborrow as capital of Skintland. Poortree capital of Pie in the Skye. There's Grieff in Perthshire, and further north are Stonehaven't and John no Groats.
How they must have guffawed with glee at The Economist headquarters while drawing up their mock-up mocking map of a post-independence Scotland.
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21:19 UK time, Wednesday, 11 April 2012
The sale of Edinburgh Airport has been delayed, but only briefly. And it now looks like a choice between two big international infrastructure investment funds.
Long gone were the hopes of a Scottish-led buy-out for this key element of the Scottish economy.
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11:30 UK time, Monday, 9 April 2012
A 42-hour power cut while I was on a Hebridean holiday last week may have been the reason Sir David Murray couldn't reach me to offer his customary spin on his latest set of company accounts.
Others - either better connected by Scottish Hydro's technicians, or part of the metals-to-property magnate's favoured circle - were honoured with a highly selective release of statistics.
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20:12 UK time, Friday, 30 March 2012
So farewell, BMI. The British Midland brand will only last a few months beyond 20 April - target date for the handover of the loss-making Lufthansa subsidiary to IAG, parent company of British Airways.
And farewell also to competition on key routes for Scotland? Well, we'll have to wait and see. There are some hopes that the conditions placed on European Commission approval of the deal ought to see a rival take to the air on links between Heathrow and both Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
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07:51 UK time, Friday, 30 March 2012
Two big decisions about Scottish transport in two days. One is at the cheaper end, with cutbacks in bus services. The other is at the premium end that connects to the world.
On buses, the warning from Aberdeen's First Group on Thursday morning about its UK bus operations has big implications for some urban communities.
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