06 July 2007
First Minister Alex Salmond has appointed an influential group of leading academics and business leaders to sit on a new Council of Economic Advisers in Scotland.
He said the group, chaired by former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir George Mathewson, was 'the most formidable intellectual firepower ever to have tackled Scottish economic under-performance'.
The council has been set up by Salmond to advise him directly about the best way to improve Scotland's sustainable economic growth. It will meet quarterly and publish an annual report.
Giving details of the 11-member group, Salmond said: 'The idea is essentially a simple one, focusing some of the top minds in business and economics on the particular challenge of Scottish growth.'
Mathewson admitted that raising the economic growth rate would not be easy but said: 'Scotland's talented workforce, dynamic modern industries and a track record of ingenuity provide the foundations we need to be more economically successful.'
Members include Professor John Kay, a leading economist; Frances Cairncross, rector of Exeter College at Oxford University; Sir Robert Smith, chair of the Weir Group and Scottish and Southern Energy; and Crawford Beveridge, chair of Sun Microsystems.
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