IEA Executive Director Tom Clougherty has been quoted in The Daily Mail discussing a reported exodus of taxpayers from Scotland to England as a consequence of the SNP’s high taxes and proposed that the Scottish government could use its tax powers to attract more people.

Tom said:

“This story illustrates one of the most fundamental laws of economics: incentives matter.

“The wider the tax gap between England and Scotland gets, the more we are going to see people moving from one side of the Border to the other, if they can.

“That means that tax increases in Scotland alone are likely to bring diminishing returns when it comes to revenue – and may even be counterproductive beyond a certain point.

“The Scottish Government might want to ­consider flipping this competitive dynamic on its head and using lower tax rates to attract people to Scotland from the rest of the UK.”

Read the full article here.

Tom’s comments were also featured in the Scottish Daily Express.