It is that time of year again when our world starts revolving around the World Bank’s Doing Business publication. It is a time when we once more have the chance to brag about how easy it is to start a business in Georgia, about how small the tax burden on businesses is, and about how good we are at enforcing contracts.

On October 26-27, the APRC attended the second workshop on mainstreaming Agenda 2030 requirements in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on Windbreaks Draft Law, organized by REC Caucasus with support from international donors.

Growth projections for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2018 were revised downward by less than 0.1 percentage points. They now stand at 7.2% and 6.4% respectively. Recently, Geostat published its preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for August, which now stands at 2%. As a result, the real GDP growth estimate for the first eight months of 2018 was reduced to 4.8%.

“With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), humanity has entered a new phase. The 4IR has become the lived reality for millions of people around the world, and is creating new opportunities for business, government and individuals” – Klaus Schwab, Founder, and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

This article continues the theme of ISET Economist blog “Decriminalize Marijuana?” written by my colleague Saba Devdariani in June 2015, where he described the philosophical aspects related to marijuana state regulations and medical consequences of its consumption.