When economists discuss the constraints for economic development of a country like Georgia, one thing is always taken as given: That people have enough to eat. Of course there are people in this country who are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, but these are rather exceptional outgrowths of extreme poverty. By and large, Georgians have enough money in their pockets to buy bread, vegetables, meat, and dairy products at street vendors, at local food markets, or even at super markets. The fact that hunger was overcome in Georgia and many other regions...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Apr
02
Jan
29
According to data provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in the last five years there were two hikes in global food prices. The first hike was in 2008, when the global food price index reached 224.4 points (up by 46% in year-on-year terms). The second wave started in late 2010, reaching a peak in February 2011 (237.9 points).
More recently, the FAO Food Price Index averaged 209.3 points in December 2012, down 2.4 points (1.1%) from November. The downward movement was mostly driven by decreasing cereals p...
Dec
12
Below are Google Maps images of two rural communities (A and B) in Georgia. Please click image to enlarge.
Readers of this blog are welcome to propose their answers to the following multiple choice questions:
Q1. East or West?
a) A is in Eastern Georgia, B in Western Georgia b) A is in Western Georgia, B is in Eastern Georgia c) Both are in the same part of Georgia
Q2. Land distribution among households
a) Land is more equally distributed among household...
Dec
10
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. Once the wealthiest Soviet republic, Georgia fell far behind others (except, perhaps, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova) on almost any parameter of wellbeing. Adjusted for purchasing power parity, Georgia’s annual income per capita in 2011 was in the $5,400-5,800 ballpark (very similar to the resource-poor Armenia). M...
Dec
03
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. In an effort to take my family to safety, I was driving a fully-loaded off-road vehicle on what was marked on my map as a “road” from Tbilisi via Tetri Tskharo and Tsalka to Akhatsikhe. This journey of 270 km took about 36 hours, including one hard-to-forget night at a “hotel” in Tsalka (yes, there was and still is such an establishment in Tsalka!). Ok, I admit to taking a littl...
Our Partners
