In the frames of the memorandum of understanding between ISET Policy Institute and the Business Association of Georgia (BAG), ISET-PI offered a compressed four-day training to the staff of the association. Senior researchers of the policy institute, Maya Grigolia, and Nino Doghonadze conducted the training in macroeconomics 101.

The second of May, 2015, may well go unnoticed by historians of the future; but I am convinced that it marks a watershed not only in Georgia’s recent evolution – but also, maybe, in the history of our times...

The growth forecast for the 1st quarter of 2014 has been revised upward from 0.5% to 2.3%. The growth forecast for the 2nd quarter of 2014 has also revised upward from 1.6% to 4.3%. Meanwhile, Geostat has updated the GDP growth estimate for February 2015, it stands at 4.9%.

Some twenty five year later, the world is once again rife with “contradictions” (the elimination of which is key to understanding Fukuyama’s end-of-history Hegelian thinking). These contradictions are most evident in the ever intensifying migration debates in Europe and the US, renewed trade wars, geopolitical rivalries and religious conflicts.

The growth forecast for the 1st quarter of 2014 has been revised downward from 3.6% to 0.5%. The growth forecast for the 2nd quarter of 2014 has been targeted at a low 1.6%. Meanwhile, Geostat has updated the GDP growth estimate for January 2015, and similarly to our forecast, it stands at 0.5%.