The Economy of Catalonia

fessionally and 47.8% believe it would be positive. On the other hand
the group of business people and/or the self-employed shows the highest
percentage of negative effects (29.7%).
Finally, based on the place of residence, Tarragona has the highest proportion
of economists who do not foresee any impact on their professional
activity due to the establishment of a Catalan State. Members located
in Lleida and Girona are those who most expect positive effects.
Conclusions
This chapter has presented the data from the survey administered to
members of the Catalan Association of Economists. The main conclusions
are as follows:
– Just over half the economists favour an independent State for Catalonia
as the best option for the future relationship with Spain.
Opinions regarding the alternative to this possibility are divided
between maintaining the State of the Autonomous Regions but
with a Fiscal Pact similar to that of the Basque Country and a federal
model (19.6% and 19.5% respectively).
– Most economists believe that a Catalan State would find its fit in
the European Union. Half of them also consider that it would be
viable outside it with 40.6% thinking it would only be viable as part
of it.
– Most economists think that a Catalan State would be economically
viable. They think that, in the short term, there would be a negative
impact, or no impact, on the Catalan economy but, in long
term, the effects would be favourable.
– If there were a Catalan State, a significant proportion of the economists
think that the finances of the Generalitat of Catalonia would
improve and its indebtedness /deficit could be reduced more
quickly.
– The members think that the existence of a Catalan State would speed
up improvement of the production model of Catalonia, but would
cause a boycott by the rest of Spain on Catalan products and services.
However, they also think this would be easily surmountable.
220 The Economy of Catalonia