Sir – Interest rates are awfully low and no-one is really sure why.
The Government’s interest cost has fallen by more than a fifth to just one half of one per cent, reflecting a drop in interest rates all around the world.
Together, these worldwide falls in interest rates make it cheaper than ever for us to borrow.
Could these low rates reflect some policy decisions by the biggest borrowers and savers in the world?
The USA is by far the biggest borrower and the world’s biggest savers are the Chinese.
Or maybe the glut of global savings is driving down our interest rates? This is good news for some of us but not for savers.
Of course, because it’s governments who are the biggest borrowers and are benefiting from such low rates, we can be sure that savers are suffering from this bonanza for taxpayers.
Could it be that low interest rates are a signal to all of us that spending is better value than saving?
The price of oil is also affecting countries all around the world.
This is reflected in a change in policy by Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, which is in a price war with its rival Iran.
We also have the re-emergence of the USA as the largest source of oil and gas in the world.
Those energy price gyrations are linked to the market values of shares in oil companies that have also gone up and down.
Those fallen share prices have some effect on the values of our pension funds and they have upset the governments of several other countries where they depend on the tax income from their oil exports.
Low oil and gas prices are good news for households and drivers in Scotland, but tough on governments that rely heavily on tax revenues from them. Holyrood, please note.
So that’s where we are. What’s good news for borrowers is also bad news for savers and bad news for governments relying on oilfield taxes.
This is beyond the control of anyone in Scotland or anywhere else.
Andrew Dundas.
34 Ross Avenue.
Perth.
Next could open in Wellgate
Sir, – Many of the rather heated comments about the decision by Dundee City Council to refuse the application by Next take what the developers say as being fact.
But these statements need to be examined carefully.
For example, Next indicated that there would have been 125 new jobs created in the new store. But when questioned by councillors, representatives indicated that the hours worked in these jobs would have meant that these 125 jobs would only have been equivalent to 42 full-time jobs.
Dundonians can work out for themselves the hours per week and the kind of jobs that this implies.
But most fundamentally, the job numbers they quote need to be further reduced as they take no account of the many jobs that would inevitably be lost in other shops elsewhere in the city.
Unfortunately, the number of new jobs created by new stores are almost always fewer than those which they eliminate in other businesses.
If this application had been approved, the one thing that is certain is that significant expenditure, customers and footfall would have been removed from the city centre and taken to Kingsway West.
With a shops vacancy level already well above the Scottish average, this is the last thing that Dundee city centre needs.
Moreover, the chances of attracting new retail investment to the city centre would have been diminished by fewer customers and more vacant and charity shops.
If Next were to be more inventive and amend their proposals by removing the garden centre it would be quite possible to locate the project in the Wellgate, for example, which would be of significant benefit to the city centre.
We can only hope Next now give such an option serious consideration.
Nick Day.
Chairman,
Dundee Civic Trust,
13 Whinny Brae,
Broughty Ferry.
We need debate on borders
Sir, – It is welcome that SNP MSP Alex Neil has highlighted whether there would be a hard or soft border between Scotland and the rest of the UK if Scotland became independent.
However, Nicola Sturgeon dismissed his concerns, citing the borders between the north and south of Ireland as an example in the full knowledge a hard border would be a significant vote loser.
But before shutting down the debate, she should be mindful that an independent Scotland outside a Brexit UK would be a very different matter, especially if Scotland became the conduit for large numbers of immigrants to pour unhindered over the border to the south.
Although Mr Neil focused on concerns about a hard border, he should debate the consequences of a regulated soft border which would be a given regardless of whether a physical barrier was erected.
He or his party should explain the impact on Scottish businesses with regard to transaction costs, road tolls and the loss of the large internal market where we sell four times more goods and services than to the external EU market, which is riddled with hidden protectionism.
However, when we are no further on in learning what currency we would use in an independent Scotland or how we would address a further £10 billion of cuts to meet the EU fiscal membership criteria, there is little chance Ms Sturgeon would risk her utopian view of independence by actually answering the questions the majority of Scots want to know.
Ian Lakin.
Pinelands,
Murtle Den Road,
Milltimber.
Simple fix for Broxden
Sir, – Some recent correspondents have suggested the introduction of traffic lights to alleviate the delays on the approaches to Broxden roundabout at Perth.
Perhaps there is a case for seeking a simple solution before engaging in such a radical, disruptive and expensive programme of works.
Some years ago Transport Scotland installed vertical, plastic anti- dazzle vanes along the central dividers on the approaches to this junction. What prompted this measure has never been fully explained, given that the majority of accidents were caused by the adverse camber.
These vertical vanes prevent drivers from observing traffic already on the roundabout until they are almost at the give way road markings.
This has the effect of backing up all the traffic behind and reducing the efficiency of the roundabout to that of a simple road junction.
The only drivers who are able to see over the vanes are those in HGVs as they sit higher up and, therefore, have the ability to judge where there are gaps in the approaching traffic.
The removal of these vanes would be relatively inexpensive and would allow all drivers to adjust their approach speed, thus allowing them to enter the roundabout where there were gaps in the vehicles circulating around this structure.
Anyone who has experienced the ridiculous delays when approaching from Inveralmond or Craigend would, I am sure, welcome the opportunity to resolve this problem in a quick and cost-effective manner.
Colin Young.
Meadowland,
Newton of Pitcairns,
Dunning.
Hiding meaning of benefits
Sir, – If I, through no fault of my own, at some point in the future find my needs met by state benefits, I shall be grateful. I would know that I am getting back what I have paid in, but I’d also appreciate the willingness of taxpayers to help me in my hour of need.
The SNP, however, wishes to banish this entirely appropriate gratitude by renaming benefits as payments. Payment has connotations of earning, and, in this context, is intended to obscure the real nature of the transaction taking place.
A sense of gratitude that one’s needs are being met by taxpayers has an even more important corollary: that one should make every effort to return to self sufficiency as soon as possible.
Richard Lucas.
11 Broomyknowe,
Colinton,
Edinburgh.