"You don't know, so don't say you do - you don't"

According to The Herald, all is well (here):

"SCOTLAND'S economy topped the UK growth league for the second consecutive month in July, as its tourism and leisure sector received a fillip from the meeting of the Group of Eight world leaders at Gleneagles in Perthshire.The revelation that Scotland has found itself in the unusual position of heading the table of 12 different parts of the UK for a second straight month comes today in Royal Bank of Scotland's latest PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) Scotland report."

But then again, perhaps not (from the same article):

"Royal Bank's PMI report has painted a significantly more upbeat picture of the Scottish economy than gross domestic product numbers from the Scottish Executive, although the official figures are significantly more historic because of the time taken to compile them. On July 27, the Executive reported that the Scottish economy had stagnated in the first quarter.Asked about the difference between the PMI numbers and the executive's growth figures, McLaughlin replied: "In the early part of the year there has been a disconnect between official data showing stagnation, and PMIs and other data showing a moderate expansion in the private sector side of the economy."I would like to think that that disconnect will not persist as the year wears on, and what companies are telling us in this survey will start to show in the official data as well."

And then again, from The Scotsman (here):

"ALL 12 major regions in the UK - including Scotland - last month reported that business confidence had fallen, according to research by the Confederation of British Industry out today.
For the first time in two years, businesses throughout the country reported unbroken gloom, with Scottish businesses particularly downbeat on cost inflation.
Research for the CBI revealed that the pace of job losses in manufacturing firms was continuing unabated in many parts of the UK, including London and the south-east, the east of England and
Northern Ireland.

Is the Scottish economy growing or not? Who knows...