Lies, damn lies, and...
statistics.
A friend posted a Business For Scotland piece recently that was, on the face of it, shocking.
Scotland had the lowest percentage of households in the highest earning households of GB. The Eurostat GDP data for Scotland, however, showed all but the Highlands having decent GDP, and the area around Aberdeen being in the highest band.


This was interpreted to mean that Scotland's wealth was being syphoned off wholesale to London, leaving Scotland at the lowest level of GDP in GB.
However, the wrong indicators were being used. Having the lowest percentage of wealthiest families in GB tells us nothing about how wealth is distributed in families lower down the wealth scale. In fact, if you think about it, a more equitable society may well have less families in the wealthiest household band, but more families in median income bands. This is a personal feeling, but I think Scotland is one of the more equitable parts of the UK, if not the most equitable.
So, how can we check this?
The Office of National Statistics has a nice current report on Regional Gross Disposable Household Income, and this figure of the GDHI per head is illuminating:

Suddenly Scotland is not the more hard-done-by region - in fact it is better than all of the north of England and Northern Ireland, and only bettered by London.
Whatever choice Scotland makes on Thursday, I hope they do not put too much weight on statistics like that in the Business for Scotland article in making a decision.
The Business for Scotland article: http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/where-does-scotlands-wealth-go/
The ONS Report on Regional Gross Disposable Household Income, 2012: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_364960.pdf
A friend posted a Business For Scotland piece recently that was, on the face of it, shocking.
Scotland had the lowest percentage of households in the highest earning households of GB. The Eurostat GDP data for Scotland, however, showed all but the Highlands having decent GDP, and the area around Aberdeen being in the highest band.
This was interpreted to mean that Scotland's wealth was being syphoned off wholesale to London, leaving Scotland at the lowest level of GDP in GB.
However, the wrong indicators were being used. Having the lowest percentage of wealthiest families in GB tells us nothing about how wealth is distributed in families lower down the wealth scale. In fact, if you think about it, a more equitable society may well have less families in the wealthiest household band, but more families in median income bands. This is a personal feeling, but I think Scotland is one of the more equitable parts of the UK, if not the most equitable.
So, how can we check this?
The Office of National Statistics has a nice current report on Regional Gross Disposable Household Income, and this figure of the GDHI per head is illuminating:
Suddenly Scotland is not the more hard-done-by region - in fact it is better than all of the north of England and Northern Ireland, and only bettered by London.
Whatever choice Scotland makes on Thursday, I hope they do not put too much weight on statistics like that in the Business for Scotland article in making a decision.
The Business for Scotland article: http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/where-does-scotlands-wealth-go/
The ONS Report on Regional Gross Disposable Household Income, 2012: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_364960.pdf