On November 22, President of ISET and ISET-PI, Mr. Eric Livny gave an insightful presentation to the very first cohort of ISET BA Program students, regarding the importance and perks of coordination.

Mr. Livny opened his speech with a famous quote by Adam Smith, and then discussed whether it is always enough for the match of Supply and Demand that “it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”. Mr Livny stressed that “chicken and egg” problems frequently hinder the process of metaphorically delivering a dinner to a consumer’s table from the butcher due to a lack of coordination between the two; this is keenly felt in economics, and Mr. Livny explained the necessity for the World Bank to develop well-organized and managed Value Chains in Georgia.

Afterwards, Mr. Livny discussed the Focal Point concept introduced by Thomas C. Schelling in “The Strategy of Conflict” (1960) and recognized the Gudauri Development Plan as a best-practice of coordination between the government and the private sector. At the end, to illustrate the pros of coordination and to support the theory with a practical demonstration, Mr. Livny engaged the audience in an interesting and illuminating coordination game.