Each year top students from ISET receive exceptionally promising and appealing offers to continue their graduate education at some of the best universities in the world. ISET graduates have been pursuing their Ph.D.’s at top universities such as University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, Stanford University, New York University etc. 32 ISETers have been selected throughout the past 8 years. Another six ISET graduates have successfully continued the path towards their Ph.D. Degrees this year. With full support of ISET’s senior international faculty, they are currently engaged in the first year of their studies. Most of them have already done some of their own research being a part of ISET’s “Third Year Program” working with ISET-PI on policy projects relevant to the fields of their interest, contributing to the ISET Economist Blog and taking online math classes to get ready for the “boot camp” experience awaiting them in the US or Europe.

After the great success in preparing and delivering the Young Bankers training program for ProCredit Bank Georgia, a new training program for senior bank staff was developed and conducted in Tbilisi and Batumi in 2012. Three different groups participated in the program. These three groups consisted of employees from two departments - The Medium Loans Assessment Department and Corporate Client Service Department. In this particular program, four modules were incorporated: General Microeconomics; General Macroeconomics; Banking and Data Analysis

When thinking of “market distortions” we typically imagine government regulations, taxes, and subsidies that prevent market mechanisms from achieving an optimal outcome. For example, if you pay $100 for a 30-minute taxi ride (as is the case in many European capitals), you can easily relate it to a government regulation requiring all taxi drivers to be licensed (at a very high cost). In the absence of such a requirement, many more drivers would be able to enter the taxi driving profession, increasing supply and reducing prices.

“Jewelry you can pawn whenever you encounter financial difficulties", we were told by a friend. In our circles of acquaintances, there are quite a number of people who enjoy the services of pawnshops. The reasons range from renovating apartments, paying tuition for children, and buying new hi-fi systems for the car, to repaying the 1000 lari that the 18-year-old son had lost in gambling.

ISET will be offering an exciting new course in the 5th mini-term – “Corporate Finance Applied to a Developing Economy.” The course will be taught by Paul-Henri Forestier, former Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Georgia.