Just after I had been writing about Singaporean lessons for Scotland, it turns out that a fortnight beforehand the World Bank published a book, Some Small Countries Do It Better, on the messages for small countries of Singapore, Ireland and Finland.

The focus of these countries, rather than being tightly bound to investment, concentrates on building human capital in order to attract technology-intensive foreign direct investment and to enable domestic firms to compete in global markets for highvalue products and services. This recipe for rapid and sustained growth is well suited for the large number of small, resource-poor countries and of especial relevance in the competitive global environment of the 21st century.

Not exactly what I was saying in my article, but close.