THROUGHOUT our series of articles for The National we have been arguing that a written democratic constitution which enshrines fundamental rights of all citizens is crucial for Scottish independence. Those fundamental rights include rights to food, energy, clean air and water, housing, health, education, work, a pension and other human rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is remarkable to witness the British state failing to honour those rights as the UK finds itself in the grip of simultaneous crises in food, energy, housing, public health and pensions. The UK is also likely to face a water crisis as a result of climate change.

It further faces a crisis of employment – not just the quantity of jobs, but the quality of them and working conditions. The education system is failing to equip the younger generation with the skills and knowledge to lead fulfilling lives and become fully engaged citizens.

Scotland is struggling to escape the grip of these ongoing crises. The means to address these issues properly requires Scotland to have full access to and control over the allocation of our national resources. There is no more powerful case for independence than the failure of the British state to provide for the needs of all its citizens.

Establishing our own currency is an essential pre-condition for gaining control over the allocation of resources so that Scotland can deliver the priorities of the people who live and work here. It is the allocation of money that governs the allocation of resources.

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Our series of articles has been discussing how the reform of our banking and financial system and a new understanding of the role of the government, the central bank and public finance are key to the delivery of a “wellbeing economy” and a “fairer and more equal society”.

Even Unionist think tanks, such as the Institute for Government and These Islands, have concluded Scotland’s best currency option is to establish a free-floating currency.

Having come to this conclusion, however, they seek to undermine the case for independence by spreading fears that the currency will be weak and will be vulnerable to currency speculation on global money markets.

In his National Extra on September 23 (“Why Scotland does not need the international money markets”) Professor Richard Murphy explains why there is nothing to fear and why the economics of these think tanks and other unionist commentators are flawed.

With our own currency, the Scottish Government will have no need to borrow money on global money markets. By working with the central bank the government will be able to create the money that is needed to allocate the resources to our national priorities. That money will be created in the very act of government spending on the provision of public services and infrastructure. It is not the supply of money that limits what we can do, it is the limits to our resources; labour, skills, technology, and physical resources.

Once we have reached our resource limits, no amount of money can magic more into existence. Throwing more money at an economy at full capacity is a recipe for inflation and for the loss of value of our currency. If nothing more can be produced, creating more money just results in those goods and services which are available costing more to acquire.

The role of our government will be to oversee the allocation of money in our economy so that our resources are put to good use. This is how Scotland will be able to provide the things we all need to live well and in harmony with nature; building a “wellbeing” economy where the rights of every citizen to food, energy, housing, health, education, are honoured.

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This naturally includes the right to a real living income, whether that comes from work or in retirement or from state support when unable to work.

As with every other country on Earth, our resources are limited and we also have to live within planetary limits. This means we must use our resources wisely. We should aim to be as self-sufficient as possible, especially with respect to food and energy, but there are limits to our natural resources.

We will therefore trade with other countries and, where appropriate, will call upon expertise and resources that we lack through trade and international co-operation. This will require carefully considered economic management.

The long-term UK economic focus has been to rely heavily on importing technology, neglecting innovation, and allowing markets and financial engineering to determine the direction of the economy.

We will need to have an industrial strategy that changes this, supporting the delivery of our priorities, taking into account the limits of our national resources, but utilising them fully and appropriately in pursuance of a fairer and more equal society.