The second of May, 2015, may well go unnoticed by historians of the future; but I am convinced that it marks a watershed not only in Georgia’s recent evolution – but also, maybe, in the history of our times...
On the surface of life, this Saturday marked maybe the Saturday when tourists finally returned to Tbilisi. At about 2 p.m. spotted a group of about thirty Dutch tourists assembling near the Marriot Courtyard hotel; and there were two further groups moving slowly down the sidewalks of Leselidze Street. Maintaining the festive note, the converted Lon...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
May
11
May
01
Judging by Georgia’s average birth rate, it clearly belongs into the European family of nations. At 1.82 children per woman, according to the latest data, the Georgian nation is below (but still relatively close to) 2.1, the birth rate at which the population size remains steady. On average, the birthrate in Europe is around 1.5, which is significantly lower than it was only fifty years ago. With the exception of Scandinavian countries, Turkey and France (Europe’s demographic “leaders”, with around 2.1 births per woman), all other European nations, ...
Apr
27
At ISET we teach graduate economics, which uses the mathematical language to analyze economic behavior (“microeconomics”) and macroeconomic systems. Being based in Tbilisi, we heavily depend on “upstream” Georgian educational institutions, such as schools and undergraduate departments at TSU and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the level of quantitative literacy among the Georgian youth leaves much to be desired, which says something about the quality of educational programs they go through before arriving to ISET. The vast majority of our future students come ...
Apr
20
There are clear expectations in many cultures to marry somebody from their own group, and not living up to these expectations will at least cause a loss in reputation. This is nicely displayed in the movie Late Marriage by Dover Kosashvili, humorously depicting a young Georgian Jew in Israel whose parents want him to marry the “right” woman (the movie features extensive dialogues in Judeao-Georgian, another endangered language).
Why are these sanctions imposed on people who want to marry an “outsider”? There is a simple answer to that question: without t...
Apr
01
April 1, 2015
A little-known experiment launched in 2009 is about to revolutionize Georgia’s countryside. “Teach for Georgia (TG)” [1] is a small program administered by the National Center for Teachers’ Professional Development, seeking to stream new blood into the public education system. With a tiny annual budget of 212,000 GEL, TG was initially conceived as a publically funded “startup”, an attempt to think and act out-of-the box. Though starting small and mainly focusing on schools in remote mountain communities, TG has always been seen as potential...
Our Partners
