International crude oil prices, which have hovered at $110 per barrel for the last three and a half years, started a sudden and abrupt downfall in August 2014, reaching a $50 per barrel mark in just five months. More than a year after the event, it looks like the oil price of $50 per barrel is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

Oil prices have endured a large and persistent decrease due to increased worldwide production and the weakness of global demand. Prices are soon expected to stabilize around USD 60/barrel. ISET-PI and GET have focused on the improved terms of trade that Georgia could potentially see due to its high share of energy imports compared to its GDP indicators.

ISET-PI and GET have predicted the potential for Georgia to specialize in the production of energy-intensive goods such as: Aluminum (unwrought, bars and rods, foil), Zinc (Unwrought) and Fertilizer mixtures.

Many of the influential critics of capitalism shared a sentiment that life under competitive pressure is not good for human beings. Marx felt deep uneasiness about the fact that workers have to “sell” their workforce – he feared that this would contribute to “alienation” between the worker and their work. One of the main objectives of the Socialist society was therefore to create a new kind of human, a human who would not compete with others in the market arenas and who would not be driven by selfish motives.

Since the outbreaks of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1900s and the global financial turmoil in 2007, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a financial sector based on a set of financial indicators has become increasingly important.