On January 29, ISET was pleased to host Prof. Michael Beenstock for a seminar workshop. Prof. Beenstock is the author of ten books on topics including time series and spatial econometrics, macroeconomics, the global economy, and economic development, as well as writing more than 100 refereed journal articles.

Academic and research achievements aside, it is ISET’s community spirit that prompts alumni and visiting professors to recall their time at the institute fondly, and which also continues to attract BA and MA students hoping to become a part of the ISET family.

ISET prides itself on the diversity of its multi-national composition; faculty members have come from Germany, Israel, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Italy. The institute is therefore very happy to add Sweden to the list, with the arrival of Lotta Björklund Larsen, a Ph.D. holder from Stockholm University.

“At least we have a lot of water – why should I pay for it?” One can frequently hear this phrase in Georgia. This popular saying is based on the relative abundance of water resources the country has: roughly 15,597 cubic meters of renewable freshwater resources per capita a year, well above the 2,961 cubic meters per capita in the European Union (World Bank 2014). However, having a resource does not mean being able to use it, nor being able to do so in a sustainable manner.

Georgia’s food & agricultural exports almost hit their 1 billion USD threshold, attaining a historic maximum since independence – and that certainly sounds like something to celebrate! However, the respective imports have also increased and broken records. As a result, the trade balance (the difference between export and import) remained virtually unchanged at (-394) million USD.