Many countries in the world run their public pension systems under the so-called pay-as-you-go (PAYG) scheme, where pensioners receive their money from those who are currently working.

I have snapped the picture above in one of Tbilisi’s main streets. To the economist’s eye, however, this picture should be disturbing. While the general observer will see clean and wide sidewalks, beautiful classical-style buildings, and a single pedestrian in this early hour of the day, one also sees two adjacent currency exchange booths (Lombardi, as they are called here).

While there are differences between regions, most of the systematic regional disparities can be explained by differences in urbanization rates across the regions; namely, relatively more urbanized regions tend to have a higher per capita gross value added, a more diverse and sophisticated economic structure, and a better developed infrastructure.

On the 8th of March, Georgia joined many other countries around the world in celebrating International Women’s Day. While this particular way of appreciating the many contributions of the Georgian women may be said to have been inherited from the Soviet Union, women have historically played very important roles in Georgian society and politics.

Georgia’s current rank in the ease of “hiring and firing practices” and “redundancy costs” (weeks of salary an employer is required to pay a dismissed worker) is 9th and 13th, respectively (World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, 2012-13).