SPICe have been developing a suite of short animations to help explain terms and concepts which appear in political and public discourse. They aim to give a bitesize overview of the issues, but not an exhaustive explanation. We plan to add more animations in the future.
Economy and Finance
Budget process
This animation explains the year-round Scottish Budget process. More on the budget can be found on the Financial Scrutiny page of the Scottish Parliament website.
GDP
This animation gives you an introduction to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), what it is and how it is calculated. SPICe publishes a quarterly update on the performance of Scottish GDP.
Inflation
This animation gives you an introduction to inflation, what it is and factors that can impact it.
The Barnett formula
This animation gives you an introduction to the Barnett formula, which is the funding mechanism used to work out budgets for the devolved administrations in the UK.
Behavioural responses to income tax changes
This animation looks at potential behavioural responses to income tax changes.