We are very happy to post the second part of Jacques Fleury’s commentary on the Georgian Wine Industry. In the first part, Jacques reflected on the experience of surviving the Russian embargo, on the one hand, and dealing with a series of heavy-handed and incompetent government interventions, on the other. In the second part of his comment Jacques proposes a new vision for the future of the Georgian wine indus
According to available data from the ministry of agriculture (MoA), by 1 May, 2013, 400,000 hectares have been cultivated this year in Georgia, which means a 100% increase compared to last year and the highest figure, by far, since 2005. In fact, this is the highest yearly increase in cultivated area Georgia recorded during the last decades. In total, Georgia has around 800,000 hectares of agricultural land (i.e. la
According to the Biblical Book of Genesis, Adam ate the forbidden apple, and now we all have to face the consequences: men have to work “by the sweat of their face” and women have “in pain to bring forth children”. Ever since this fateful event, known as the “Original Sin”, the human condition has become a mess, of which(perhaps) the state of the world economy provides a vivid illustration. When economists talk about
We are very happy to host on our blog a commentary by Jacques Fleury, the person behind the resurrection of Borjomi and a key player in the Georgian wine industry. Jacques reflects on the experience of surviving the Russian embargo, on the one hand, and dealing with a series of heavy-handed and incompetent government interventions, on the other. In the second part of his comment, to be published next week, Jacques al
A country without oil needs smart people! This clearly applies to Georgia. Not endowed with substantial amounts of natural resources, Georgia totally depends on its human resources. Yet how good is the intellectual equipment of the Georgians that is so urgently required for driving the economic development of this country? When it comes to applied knowledge that can directly be utilized for economic activities, the p
When speaking about unemployment, arguably the sorest problem in many market economies, “better education” is one of the standard remedies proposed by economists. This recommendation is given to rich and poor countries alike. Yet since I am in Georgia, I am increasingly skeptical about this recipe. To what extent can the education and training of people, or, to use the economic term, the accumulation of human capital
Social capital in Georgia — Is there a Soviet Hangover? Recently, we discussed the low ranking of Georgia when it comes to social capital (“Since When Do Georgians Trust Banks More Than Friends?”). In the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index our country ranked #140 in the social capital subindex, out of 142 surveyed countries! This seems unbelievable and even shocking, but if we explore the topic a little bit deeper,
Once considered the most dynamic sector of the Georgian economy, the banks have recently become a target for fierce criticism by Georgian policymakers and media. In early March, NBG president Giorgi Kadagidze called on commercial banks to reduce interest rates on corporate loans to help accelerate the country’s economic recovery. Bloomberg reports him saying that “interest rates on corporate loans are inappropriately
Would you like to buy in a supermarket where the supermarket owner decides what you will get for your money after you made the payment? Such a supermarket would arguably not attract many customers. Yet although this is an odd allegory, a good deal of our consumption we all make in exactly this way – and we are even forced to buy! We pay taxes to the government, and afterwards politicians decide what we get for this m
