Few elections in recent years were watched as carefully around the world as the Georgian parliamentary elections. And few political and economic observers shunned the opportunity to interpret its stunning outcome. The majority view, so it seems, is that Georgia passed a “litmus test for democratic governance” (Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation). A few others, however, consider the victory of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s coalition as the end of the “Georgian experiment” which, according to them, was about combining radical economic reforms and universal suf...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Oct
08
Oct
05
No, nothing about the election here. Instead something about the Georgian retail gasoline market, which according to some is not so competitive. Case in point is this article on an opposition (soon government) leaning news outlet that alleges price fixing in the Georgian retail gasoline market. The article is based on a recent study by Transparency Georgia. A study with some interesting data, but apparently it was all too much for a clueless (or partisan) journalist. But let’s discuss the study itself.
Transparency Georgia finds that:
The reta...
Oct
03
The question of the title seems to be a rhetorical one. With the 2008 global financial crisis fresh in our minds, the logic of the vicious cycle between the economic slowdown, troubles in the banking sector, credit crunch, and the subsequent industrial decline reinforcing the credit conundrums seems quite apparent.
But are the recessions accompanied by financial crises different from other brands of recessions? And if so, how? The economists are yet to reach the ultimate verdict. And yet, this purely academic question comes to the fore of political...
Oct
02
Despite spectacular growth performance during the past several years (averaging more than 6% since 2005), Georgia remains a poor country. In 2011, Georgia’s GDP per capita reached USD 3,215, just below the average for small island states in the Pacific and just above Guatemala. Still worse, more than half of Georgia’s population live on incomes that are much lower than this average figure. This is so because the Georgian society is plagued by a very high level in income inequality. For instance, in 2011, Georgia’s Gini coefficient – the most common indic...
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