 aLEX SaLMOND has been forced to abandon a series of "absurd" SNP economic policies and pursue a different blueprint for growth, according to a document published yesterday.  John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Minister, unveiled the SNP's updated economic strategy with a promise to create thousands of jobs in the renewable energy industry and increase exports by 50 per cent. But the document made no mention of key targets set out in the original version, published four years ago, after they were missed or shown to be fundamentally flawed.  a promise in the 2007 strategy to raise the incomes of poorer Scots by replacing council tax with a local income tax has disappeared after The Daily Telegraph revealed that the levy would cost 50 per cent more than Mr Salmond claimed.  Large tracts of the original blueprint for growth focused on emulating the "lessons and approaches" of nations in a so-called "arc of prosperity". However, all references to this phrase have also been struck out after the economies of two of the countries - Ireland and Iceland - collapsed during the recession. There is also only one oblique reference to the main target in the 2007 document, to increase Scotland's economic growth ra 