“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”

I’m always reminded of this quote by Thomas Sowell, the famous US economist and philosopher, whenever I hear politicians blaming each other for the impoverished state of the economy.

Economics and politics - like much else in life - are governed by cycles and, much as we would all like the band to continue playing on indefinitely, every few years the music stops and we’re left wondering where all the money has gone.

This is such a moment when, we’re led to believe, a hitherto secret “black hole” has suddenly been discovered in the public finances, and the blame game is now in full swing.

Labour blames the Tories and the SNP for racking up huge deficits, north and south of the Border, with nothing to show for them.

The Tories blame Labour, for trying to pin the impact of their early spending decisions on their predecessors, and the SNP for years of lavish spending and financial mismanagement.

The SNP started out blaming the Tories for selling Scotland short, during more than a decade of self-inflicted austerity, but has now turned its fire on Labour.

Read more Carlos Alba

Finance Secretary Shona Robison’s budget statement today sparked a fresh round of recrimination as she signalled yet more misery for voters, and further ammunition for critics of the Scottish Government.

As we embark on what the SNP predicts will be a whole new era of Labour-inflicted austerity, who should we believe and what, if any, is the most effective route to growth and prosperity?

The problem for the close to 50% of the electorate who believe that........

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