Scotland could become like its prosperous Nordic neighbours, but that won’t be cheap

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At the heart of the Scottish referendum campaign is the question of whether Scotland could really thrive as a small European state. At one time, the nationalists pointed for inspiration to the “arc of prosperity” of small northern European countries. After the crash of 2008 brought down Ireland and Iceland, their unionist opponents lampooned the “arc of insolvency”. Both images were profoundly misleading.