It has been a somewhat eventful week leading up to Christmas on the business, economic and political front.

We have had the Scottish Budget, which always looked likely to provide plenty of drama before many people headed off for a break.

On the business front in this context, most of the noise was around the Scottish Government’s decision not to match the 75% business rates relief provided for the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors in England.

A matching of this relief never looked likely, given pressure on public finances meant a need to prioritise and that this in turn suggested that a measure that was decided against previously was unlikely to be adopted now.

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That is not in any way to signal a lack of sympathy for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses, but rather a reflection on the reality of the situation.

There was a fair bit of noise too around the Scottish Government’s decision to increase the tax burden for some higher earners, although the moves in this regard were far from dramatic.

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison put things in context quite well in her speech, highlighting the need to prioritise by declaring: “While the UK Government may be happy to provide tax cuts on the back of real-terms cuts to their NHS, I am not.

“Because let us be clear, if I spent every penny of [Barnett] consequentials on business relief and tax cuts, that would mean a real-terms cut to our NHS and other vital public services - just as the UK Government has done.”

It was indeed a Budget about choices.

Amid all the sound and fury, what seemed to get a bit lost was that big parts of what the business community asked for were delivered.

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Ms Robison said: “The number one ask we’ve heard on NDR (non-domestic rates) [has] been calls to freeze the poundage.

“I am therefore happy to announce that we will freeze the poundage on the basic property rate, protecting businesses with a rateable value up to and including £51,000 from the impact of inflation by freezing the poundage.”

She noted this was forecast to save ratepayers £37 million, compared with an inflationary increase.

Ms Robison observed that, alongside increases in both the intermediate and higher property rates in line with inflation, this would “still ensure that Scotland has the lowest rate for all but the largest properties for the sixth year in a row”.

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Many might be surprised that this is the case, given all the noise around the Scottish Budget and more generally.

And, crucially, the Scottish Government is maintaining the small business bonus scheme, a vital relief which is not highlighted anywhere near enough.

Ms Robison said: “I am pleased to confirm that in this Budget we will maintain the small business bonus scheme - ensuring that 100,000 properties are taken out of rates altogether.”

That is a big number - 100,000.

And Ms Robison was not done there.

She said that “in recognition of the unique challenges faced by the hospitality sector in our island communities”, the Scottish Government would introduce 100% relief for hospitality properties “in our islands”, capped at £110,000 per business.

The truth of the matter is, of course, that the Scottish Government does not have that much in the way of levers when it comes to the economy and business. The powerful levers are mainly at Westminster.

In recent years, the Conservative Government has been making an extraordinary mess of policymaking when it has come to the economy, and that has hit households and businesses the length and breadth of the UK.

While the Scottish Government is unable to really shift the dial, one way or the other, on overall economic performance, it does have some important powers which will have a not-insignificant impact on the nation’s future, especially over the longer term.

For example, free university tuition for people in Scotland looks to be a great advantage for the nation in grasping the opportunities arising from rapid technological advances and more generally, at a time when the importance of moving up the value chain should surely not be a matter for debate.

It is crucial that people are not excluded from higher education because they cannot afford the type of fees that prevail south of the Border. Why on earth would you want to shrink the talent pool and stop people realising their potential?

Free university tuition is a great choice, as is the small business bonus scheme.

There are other socially orientated policies that many in Scotland who are paying higher taxes might feel are worth the extra cost.

It is not like the Tory austerity drive which began in 2010 when we were told we were all in it together and households were hammered in various ways financially, from public sector pay freezes and caps and the abolition of universal child benefit to savage welfare cuts, to pay for a huge cut in corporation tax.

This corporation tax cut did not, of course, deliver the business investment that the Tories claimed it would. Former chancellor George Osborne’s much-vaunted “march of the makers” failed to materialise.

The money would have been far better in the pockets of those who would have spent it, to boost aggregate demand and bolster economic output in very difficult times.

The Tories have shown extremely bad prioritisation in their decision-making.

While probably not perfect, the Scottish Government’s prioritisation in last week’s Budget seemed quite good.