While ISET’s Khachapuri Index continues to climb up in a perfectly predictable fashion – driven by the seasonal increase in the price of cheese – a bit of drama is being provided by the ups and downs in the price of eggs. According to ISET data, egg prices, which for a couple of years hovered around 29 tetri a piece, suddenly collapsed in June and July 2013 to a minimum of about 26 tetri.

For many observers, the Georgian job market is a mystery. Companies are bitterly complaining about a lack of engineers, forcing them to withhold the expansion of production capacities and to cut down investments. Yet Georgian young people, who could make good fortunes by studying technical subjects, prefer to learn the law, business administration and the like, qualifications that are oversupplied in the market and on average do not yield high salaries.

On December 5, ISET hosted Levan Akhvlediani, General Manager of Kagri Limited, who delivered a seminar on physical commodity trading, which takes place around the world. According to Mr. Akhvlediani, being a trader is a very demanding job that carries high risk, but at the same time is very interesting.

On December 4, ISET hosted a lecture by Professor Avner Shaked from the University of Bonn – one of the greatest modern game theorists who also delivers courses in game theory and industrial organizations at ISET. The talk was devoted to a serious flaw uncovered concerning famous economic journals the Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE) and Econometrica.

When a country engages in scientific research, the fruits are harvested by the whole of humanity. Fundamental research, generating knowledge without direct applications but needed for developing applications, is published in international scientific journals open to everybody.