"Dr Tim Rideout, Economist" has a reassuring ring to it doesn't it? You might assume the doctorate was in economics. You'd be wrong. It's in geography. https://twitter.com/lornagreens/status/1308017812909297667

Be fair, you might say, lots of people end up working in different fields than their doctorates. He's probably been working as an economist for years, right? Nope. His occupation is Geographer. He sells maps and postcode data.

This isn't me just being mean about someone with whom I have a political difference. It's about ensuring our conversations about independence are reality-based. Setting up a Scottish currency would have a range of serious implications for all of us. We deserve an honest debate.

And neither am I saying that one has to be an expert in a field in order to comment on it. What I am saying is that in tricky topics like currency we seek out expertise because it's hard to understand all the ins and outs. So people posing as experts who aren't is really dodgy.

And this is de rigueur for pro-indy economics, mainly because the economic reality of indy is so stark. So you get people like Richard Murphy elevated *on the basis of his expressed opinions about independence* rather than on the basis of the rationality of his economic argument.

All of which leads me neatly to an excuse to post this glorious slice of the Holyrood Economy Committee featuring Jackie Baillie and, by the end, the smouldering remains of Professor Murphy's credibility.

(Oh, Richard Murphy is a "formal adviser" to Tim Rideout's Scottish Currency Group, by the way. It's a sort of credibility pyramid scheme. Would be hilarious if it wasn't so effective in persuading people they know what they're on about.)