Poverty and income inequality are two of the top concerns for the newly elected Georgian government. Indeed, despite impressive growth performance (annual growth rates have averaged more than 6% since 2005), Georgia remains a poor country.
There are different ways to measure the success of nations. Various surveys are conducted and different indices are compiled to measure the well-being of countries across the world.
A few days after the beginning of the August 2008 war with Russia, I found myself on an epic journey through Kvemo Kartli and the volcanic plateau of Samtkhe-Javakheti to Turkey.
We may recall that the Lazika city project has been proposed by the Saakashvili administration to accelerate the process of urbanization. A new city was suggested as a means of absorbing surplus rural population and thus paving the way for land consolidation and greater productivity in agriculture.
In his blog post “The puzzle of agricultural productivity in Georgia and Armenia”, Adam Pellillo raises the following question.