The tax break thing is a mess, simply because as the UK (and to a lesser degree France) discovered the EU prevents any member state from being able to compete with the likes of Canada, or the provinces of Canada, on this front. This is why the "cultural test" becomes important, but in the case of Scotland where the great videogame export is GTA while one Glasgow based episode sounds possibly amusing it's not the foundation for longevity.<p>The other aspect of this is outside of defence and finance the UK tech sector took an absolute hammering over the last decade. You have the odd success story like ARM, but the games industry in north America is crawling with a disproportionately high number of Brits (and French people). In Montreal you could even tell when Realtime Worlds (makers of Crackdown based in Dundee) closed down thanks to the sudden influx of Scots. It is said that Scotland's greatest export is the people.<p>On immigration policy I tend to think Scotland has the right idea, and rather than it being feared in the rest of the UK they should embrace it too. The raw problem is really one of housing shortage, and embracing skilled people coming in while dealing with housing is a far healthier idea than pulling up the drawbridge. Perversely if Scotland stayed within the UK and the UK did enact that policy Scotland's people deficit would most likely remain.<p>Ultimately though an independence vote will create an investment situation with all the appeal of Detroit. The fun part is that narrowly rejecting independence won't be much better, and in the long run could be even worse.