THIS week sees the annual GERS-fest. Nothing to do with football, but the latest figures detailing the state of Scotland’s public finances.

During the 2014 campaign I made the economic case for independence quoting GERS data. (Still on YouTube for those with 30 minutes to spare). I’ve analysed the GERS spreadsheets and the cost and revenue allocation assumptions in detail, based on my experience in the business world.

Much will be written this week about GERS, and what it says about whether Scotland has what it takes to be a self-governing nation - but a few things need to be spelt out.

GERS is a statement of the current state of Scotland’s public sector finances – government income and expenditure – under Westminster’s watch. It isn’t an evaluation of what Scotland’s finances would look like under independence, where we would have full control over the levers to build a successful economy.

In business terms it reflects the internal profit and loss statement of a division of a larger corporation, loaded with corporate cost allocations and reflecting the historical strategic priorities of the parent business. Which is a very different thing from what that business would look like as a standalone entity, as a result of a management or employee, buy-out for example.

The best way to look at GERS is that it reflects how Scotland is performing whilst burdened by costs we wouldn’t have to carry if we were independent, and suffering under strategic investment decisions made to the benefit of others. Spending on imperial symbolism like Trident, policies designed to bolster the City of London or investment in infrastructure in the South East are obvious examples.

If GERS looks halfway decent under those conditions then an independent Scotland, shed of those burdens, is nothing to fear. In reality GERS has historically shown Scotland to be in a healthier financial position than the rest of the UK. Relative performance tends to move up and down annually depending on a range of factors, but what is encouraging is that the Scottish economy has grown very quickly this year due to a bounceback in oil and gas and steel production.

This despite Westminster’s misgovernance – rampant deindustrialisation of the UK’s peripheral “regions” and the lack of a Norway-style oil fund.

The fundamentals of our economy are good. Strength in key sectors, a highly educated workforce, significantly more than our fair share of natural resources and long-standing international credibility.

The calls from Norway’s Ministry of Finance to be admitted to the UK, to benefit from the broad shoulders of Westminster’s fiscal might, are deafening. No? I can’t hear anything either.

To suggest that Olso harbours such ambitions is as ridiculous as suggesting that Scotland doesn’t have what it takes to go it alone. And to argue that the GERS data is somehow proof that Scotland can’t function as a modern, progressive economy is wilful misinterpretation of the economic reality of the situation.