ISET Economist Blog

29 November 2015

Eric Livny

On Education and the Sacred Duty of Defending One’s Motherland

Rati, Lasha, and Irakli are first-year engineering students at the Georgian Technical University (GTU). Rather unusual students, one should add. At 22-23, all three are very much alive. Yet, they never attend classes and are not taking exams. BSc in engineering would be their third educational degree, yet neither one of them has any intention of completing his studies at GTU. And one more interesting detail: their ‘studies’ at GTU are paid for by the Georgian taxpayers because engineering (as well as mathematics and natural sciences) is considered to be a priority subject by the Georgian government.

23 November 2015

Florian Biermann, Charles Johnson

Georgia’s Ravaging Nepotism

Georgian media is full of stories about nepotism and the funny justifications of those involved: When Irakli Garibashvili, still being Minister of the Interior, was confronted with nepotism allegations, he replied: “Don’t you know that a relative of your wife is not your relative?”

16 November 2015

Eric Livny, Charles Johnson, Olga Azhgibetseva

Less Bureaucracy Is Good, But Not Good Enough!

The Georgian Government’s pride and joy of the previous years has been its high standing in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index. Investors, policymakers, and economy-watchers around the world have opened editions of magazines like The Economist to see full-page advertisements about why Georgia is ‘different’ among Post-Soviet countries when it comes to doing business.

14 November 2015

Lasha Lanchava, Eric Livny

Tax Inspection With A Human Face?

Apostle Matthew was a tax collector in Galilee – perhaps the most hated occupation in the ancient world. By quitting his job and deciding to follow Jesus, Mathew accomplished one of the greatest transformations possible in a person’s life. Modern tax inspectors are certainly not expected to follow Jesus.

07 November 2015

Eric Livny, Lasha Lanchava, Nino Kakulia, Irakli Kochlamazashvili, Charles Johnson

Georgian Tea: Finding New Strength in Unity?

After many years of chaos and utter collapse, Georgia’s once glorious tea industry is again showing signs of life. More and more individual farmers and businesses – mostly very small, but some quite ambitious, such as Geoplant (known for its “Gurieli” brand) – grow, process, and pack tea. Despite competition from major producing countries and international brands, Georgian tea has great export potential because of the value attached to it all over the former Soviet Union.

31 October 2015

Lasha Lanchava

In Search of Light in the Hearts of Delinquent Juveniles

Tea Lobjanidze, an education specialist and writer, works at the Avchala juvenile prison. She is a member of the Education and Management Team (EMT), a group of professionals committed to the formal and informal education of children. In an interview she gave to ISET-PI’s Lasha Lanchava, Ms. Lobjanidze tells about the realities faced by Georgia’s at-risk youths and her vision of how Georgia can improve a lot of its children.

ISET Economist Blog

A blog about economics in the South Caucasus financed within the institutional grant by the Government of Sweden.