In early February 2016, ISET opened its doors to a group of 7 economics students and faculty from one of Europe’s top schools of business and economics, HEC at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

According to recently released statistics, the Georgian economy continued on a stable trajectory of low- single-digit growth in September and October. The rapid growth estimates for October show 3% GDP growth, definitely an improvement over the 2.2% growth in September. The estimated average real GDP growth rate in the first ten months of 2015 was 2.8% year on year.

The Georgian lari’s depreciation against the dollar has been a pressing issue for everyone: economists and policymakers, students, housewives, and even the good-for-nothing “birzhavik’s”.

In August 2015, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian Khachapuri was 3.49 GEL, which is 11.4 % higher month-on-month (m/m, that is compared to the previous month), and 7% higher year-on-year (y/y, that is compared to the same month of last year).

It is easy to understand what it means for an economy to be weak or strong. We know that a strong economy is characterized by low unemployment and high growth rates. Other desirable traits are, for example, low levels of poverty and income inequality, when all citizens enjoy reasonable standards of living.