I am writing this post in the wake of Florian Biermann’s excellent piece on the role of culture in the economic life of Georgia. The debate itself is infinitely fascinating, as culture is truly one of those complex, stupendously vast concepts, which I find very difficult to grasp, let alone define or analyze.
Cultural attitudes play a crucial role in the way human beings interact with one another, the way they define their values and priorities. From the economic perspective, culture has a significant bearing on the functioning and effectiveness of both ...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Jun
28
Jun
26
Members of the same nation have the same “cultural background”, which means that they share a good deal of political and social values and ideals, and they tend to believe in the same recipes to solve their problems. Such fundamental attitudes are often shaped by the historical experiences of a nation. For example, England had a kind of merchant democracy since the 14th century, when the House of Commons was founded. In the former Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, merchants had no institutionalized possibility to influence politics. Bribery and utilizin...
Jun
19
In May 2012, the ISET Policy Institute piloted a new monthly survey to measure consumer sentiment and expectations. The first pilot included about 60 randomly selected individuals who were asked about their well-being, saving and spending plans, etc. While based on a relatively small sample, the pilot points to a very large gap in consumer confidence among Tbilisi and the rest of the Georgia. Tbilisi households perceive themselves to be marginally better of at present, yet they report a much larger drop in wellbeing during the last 12 months and are less...
Jun
15
Best day of the week – best links from Giorgi!
1. A short note about inflation targeting pros and cons from Economics Blog. 2. Bloomberg tells us how the banks really became “too big to fail”. 3. The Economist tells us about of yet another reason to envy China. At least, from the India’s point of view. 4. Noah Smith tells us, what the college education is really about. 5. Nick Rowe has a new (at least for economists) meaning for the word “nonlinearity” and tells us what problems are there with linear and nonlinear presen...
Jun
08
TGI Friday – let’s see, what have economist bloggers and blogging economists prepared for us!
1. Interesting examples of perverse incentives from Mark Perry. Can you think of other examples? 2. How companies are replacing oil – from LA Times and Startribune. Again, examples from our reader would be appreciated. 3. Not exactly a blog post but an ingenuous business idea. Shall South Caucasus offer its united forces for sale too? J 4. What happens, when policymakers don’t know their Econ 101, from EclectEcon. 5. Pros and co...
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