Tartan Technology: Scotland's Quiet Riot

Scotland's finest export, contrary to the stereotypes, is neither kilts nor cashmere sweaters. Golf and whiskey, loved almost equally around the world, may make the short list, but also aren't the nation's most memorable sellers. Lovely, buttery shortbread (wrapped in tartan packaging, of course) may be emblematic of the cloudy country for many, but it, too, is not Scotland's greatest gift to the globe.

Wonderful though all these may be, Scotland's shining export is an idea. That concept, put forward more than 200 years ago and outlined in a treatise called "The Wealth of Nations," is Adam Smith's vision of capitalism. As if led by an "invisible hand," Smith said, everyone working in his or her own interest will create what is best for all.

Home of Silicon Glen High-tech, software and Internet companies dot the landscape between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Smith likely never envisioned Silicon Glen, a cluster of high-tech, software and Internet companies nestled between Glasgow and Edinburgh that produces everything from business-to-business programming to video game shoot-'em-ups starring talking nightcrawlers, but it certainly encapsulates his ideals. ...