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ISET Economist Blog

A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Nov
10

Georgia's Growth Slowdown - The Case of a Political Business Cycle?

October 27, 2013 heralded a new era in the Georgian politics. The year of power sharing between the two main rival political forces, the so-called “era of cohabitation”, has officially ended, and we can now start to look back and take the stock of how the political developments in the country affected economic growth. In two articles that we publish today and in the next week, we will aim to provide an overview of some specific trends. We will first look at the general economic trends in the year between the parliamentary and the presidential elections (...
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Nov
08

Travel and Tourism to Georgia: Making Sense of Definitions and Numbers

Travel and Tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing service industries globally. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the industry’s direct contribution to World GDP in 2012 was US$ 2.1 trillion (2012 prices) and it supported 101 million jobs. Taking account of its combined direct and indirect impacts, WTTC assesses Travel & Tourism’s total economic contribution at 9% of World GDP in 2012, 1 in 11 jobs, 5% of total economy investment and 5% of world exports (Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism 2013, Annual Update, WTTC...
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Nov
04

From Thieves-in-Law Towards the Rule of Law

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) in his Leviathan describes the conditions where “there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, po...
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Nov
01

Fresh Capital for the Georgian Economy

Last year, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili announced his plans to set up a so-called co-investment fund. It took a year for this idea to mature, but finally a group of financially potent investors endowed the fund with 6 billion dollar. 15 % of the capital is provided by Bidzina Ivanishvili himself, the remaining 85% are held by the Abu Dhabi Group, the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (both United Arab Emirates), Milestone International Holding from China, Mr. Alexander Moshkevich from Kazakhstan, capital of the late Badri Patarkatsishvili, Batumi...
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