We started forecasting the annual growth rate at the beginning of 2014 (see our January 2014 and February 2014 publications for a note on methodology). Based on this month’s data, we expect annual growth in 2016 to be 2.0% in the worst-case or “no growth” scenario, and 4.5% in the best-case or “average long-term growth” scenario.

Georgia's education system seems to be broken. It is no longer corrupt, which is good, but it does not deliver the quality that we all want and need. Our teachers are among the lowest paid in Georgia and in the world. Quality is an issue at all levels of education, starting with preschools and ending with graduate and post-graduate education.

ISET is proud to welcome Professor Avner Shaked, a regular visiting scholar and a member of our International Faculty Committee. This year Prof. Shaked will teach a Game Theory class in the first year of our Economics MA program, and Industrial Organization (IO) in the second year.

On 18 April 2016 ISET hosted Dr. Donghyun Park, a principal economist with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), who presented his team’s research: the Impact of China’s Slowdown on the World Economy. The talk was attended by ISET students and faculty, as well as representatives of Georgia’s leading businesses and business associations.

Georgia’s population is rapidly aging because of low fertility, improvements in the healthcare system, and labor migration. The challenges of living in an older society were discussed in a working group format as part of the “National Dialogue on Georgian Demographic Security Priorities”, April 18-19, which was attended by ISET-PI’s Maka Chitanava and Lasha Labadze. This UNFPA-supported dialog was initiated by the Georgian Parliament’s Healthcare and Social Policy Committee.