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Council of Economic Advisers
28/06/2007
A Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has been created to advise the First Minister on the best way to improve Scotland's sustainable economic growth rate.
First Minister Alex Salmond announced the membership and remit of the Council to MSPs this afternoon and described them as 'the most formidable intellectual firepower ever to have tackled Scottish economic underperformance'.
The CEA will be chaired by Sir George Mathewson, former Chief Executive and then Chairmen of the Royal Bank of Scotland. There will be ten other members who come from the highest levels of business and economics.
Mr Salmond also announced that he will convene a National Economic Forum to allow the Government and CEA to draw from the widest pool of opinion and ideas on how to grow Scotland's economy.
The Council of Economic Advisers will:
- Advise the First Minister directly about the best way to improve Scotland's sustainable economic growth
- Have quarterly meetings following the publication of the quarterly growth figures
- Publish an annual report providing expert commentary on the Scottish economy
In the Parliament the First Minister said:
"The idea for a Council of Economic Advisers is essentially a simple one - focusing some of the top minds in business and economics on the particular challenge of Scottish growth.
"The Council includes some remarkable people. It deliberately represents a wide spectrum of economic opinion and is independent of party politics. It exists to challenge accepted wisdoms and think freely about the best way forward.
"In my view it represents the most formidable intellectual firepower ever to have tackled Scottish economic underperformance. Its formation sends out the clearest message both domestically and internationally that Scotland is serious about tackling economic underperformance and have asked serious people to advise us on achieving that goal."
Chair of the new Council, Sir George Mathewson said:
"Raising the economic growth rate will not be easy, but it is necessary. We should be confident that Scotland's talented workforce, dynamic modern industries and a track record of ingenuity provide the foundations we need to be more economically successful. Now it's time to think about what else we can do to position ourselves to be even more competitive in the global marketplace."
Appointments are unpaid and for a duration of two years.
The membership of the Council is:
- Sir George Mathewson (Chair)
Perhaps the most eminent Scottish businessman of his generation. His period as Chief Executive and then Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland inspired the transformation of the bank into a global success story. Sir George previously also spent 6 years as the chief executive of the Scottish Development Agency. - Frances Cairncross
Rector of Exeter College at Oxford University. Previously she worked for 20 years on 'The Economist' magazine. She chaired the Economic and Social Research Council for six years until 2007 and is a well respected author whose works include 'Costing the Earth' and 'Green, inc'. - Sir Robert Smith
Chairman of the Weir Group and Scottish and Southern Energy. He also serves as a non-executive director of 3i group, Standard Bank Group and Aegon UK. Sir Robert also chairs the Smith Group, a group of dedicated educators and business and civic leaders who are determined to offer more opportunities to young Scots. - Professor Andrew Hughes Hallett
Professor of Economics and Public Policy at George Mason University in the US and visiting Professor of Economics at the University of St Andrews. He specialises in international economic policy and has acted as a consultant for the World Bank, the IMF, the Federal Reserve Board, the UN, the OECD, the European Commission and central banks around the world.
- Professor Alex Kemp
Schlumberger Professor of Petroleum Economics at the University of Aberdeen. He is a leading energy and taxation expert who has advised the World Bank, the United Nations, and individual governments around the world. In recent times, Professor Kemp has expanded his research to include the economics of renewable energy and how best to foster carbon capture. - Jim McColl
Chairman and Chief Executive of Clyde Blowers - a company transformed under his leadership into a portfolio of global engineering companies. He also serves as Chairman of the Welfare to Work Forum which has seen 15,000 Scots enter employment.
- Professor Frances Ruane
Director of Ireland's Economic and Social Research Institute having been as Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College, Dublin. She is widely published in the area of international economic and industrial development. - Professor John Kay
One of Britain's leading economists. The author of several influential books, Professor Kay is a regular contributor to the Financial Times. He is a fellow of St John's College, Oxford and served as Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He has served as a Professor the London Business School and the University of Oxford. He is currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. - Crawford Beveridge
Executive Vice President and Chairman of Sun Microsystems in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. From 1991 to 2000, Crawford Beveridge served as Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise. He brings a wealth of international business experience.
- Professor Finn Kydland
Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in dynamic macroeconomics. - Professor Sir James Mirrlees
Professor Emeritus at Cambridge University and distinguished professor-at-large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sir James was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on economic models and equations about situations where information is asymmetrical or incomplete.