SO THE great "race to the bottom" is over, at least for now, as First Minister Sturgeon has jettisoned the idea of a universal cut in the rate of corporation tax.

Instead, she would target any use of such a power in potential growth areas and to boost research and development, rather than use it as a blanket measure.

Of course, this all continues to be academic since although Westminster has signalled approval for Northern Ireland to have control over corporation tax, the UK Government has no intention of devolving this to Scotland, especially after the referendum result. But, in a hung parliament after May, anything is possible.

The point is that Ms Sturgeon is increasingly putting her own stamp on Holyrood Government policy, often in a way which cuts off Labour lines of attack. Her party remains a long way ahead of her main Opposition and she has no intention of relinquishing that grip.

Her switch to a new targeted approach to business taxation and the emphasis in her new economic strategy on tackling inequality cuts most Labour lines of attack off at the knees, leaving them with plaintive cries of "u-turn".

But it was the great German Social Democrat, Willy Brandt who said: "It often takes more courage to change one's opinion than to keep it," and Ms Sturgeon would be entitled to paraphrase Keynes in saying to Mr Murphy: "When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?"

Besides, Mr Murphy is hardly in a happy place to be bandying talk of u-turns. He will also be dismayed by the STUC "enthusiastically" welcoming the inequality commitments in the strategy and the way it prioritises fair work and plans for a Business Development Bank. But there are caveats, most notably that the strategy is "somewhat light on specific policies to hasten reindustrialisation."

The Federation of Small Businesses made a similar point, praising "bold aspirations" while questioning the detail required to turn admirable intentions in real improvements. "A successful economic strategy is designed for the economy we have, not the one the policymakers want," said the FSB, which also questioned the relentless pursuit of inward investment.

Labour's Shadow Finance Secretary Jackie Baillie dismissed the strategy as a glossy brochure and its contents as "painting by numbers" rather than proper policy.

But as a piece of political strategy the document was astute, allowing the new First Minister to put her stamp on her Government's approach and trampling on any potential shoots of Labour recovery. As an economic document it was basically a well-meaning wish list.

Alex Salmond claimed a blanket cut in Corporation Tax could be worth 27,000 jobs over a generation. Ms Sturgeon now argues the power would be better used to target specific areas of promise. It's very much her Government now.

She takes her party into the General Election with three main demands - the scrapping of trident, fiscal autonomy, and a shift from austerity policies. Yesterday's document outlines how she would use new fiscal powers and so it will be solid ammunition for an election debate which is already under way. Would it actually work? No-one can yet say.

Administrations, particularly devolved administrations, can only do so much. You need only look at the Scottish Government's own performance target in relation to improving productivity. It aimed to reach the top quartile in the developed world by 2017 but performance actually worsened in 2012.