The FINANCIAL -- Eight years have passed since Georgia was promised in Bucharest that it would one day become a member of NATO. During that time NATO Summits have taken place in Strasbourg-Kehl, Lisbon, Chicago and Newport and we are now approaching the 2016 Summit in Warsaw.
The FINANCIAL -- More than three years ago the ISET Economist blog discussed the idea of deposit insurance and how this idea may apply to Georgia. Today, the deposit insurance scheme is not merely an abstract idea, but a fast approaching reality. Recently, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia discussed a draft law on implementing the deposit insurance system in the country.
The FINANCIAL -- Spring brings happiness in peoples’ lives not only because of the brighter days but also because the increased supply of many seasonal products. This is reflected in the production cost of Khachapuri. In April 2016, the national average cost of preparing one standard Imeretian khachapuri went down to 3.16 GEL, 3.2% lower compared to March 2016 (but 6.9% higher compared to April 2015).
The FINANCIAL -- This article is about a highly technical matter. To avoid losing all our readers in the very beginning, let us start with a famous doctrine by Montesquieu: Les lois inutiles affaiblissent les lois nécessaires.
Compared to western democracies, the polling industry in Georgia is relatively young. Our very first poll results didn’t start appearing in the media until 1990. However, the industry isn’t so young that it shouldn’t be able to accurately predict the winner of an election. But in order to accurately forecast voter behavior, two basic things need to be in place: A) you need to have a knowledgeable polling organization, and B) you need a fair and free pre-election period. Both professionalism and freedom work hand-in-hand in this case.
Being fully literate in today’s media environment goes beyond simply being “literate” in the traditional sense. Citizens in the new digital world not only need to be able to use multiple types of media, but they also need to be able to assess the quality of the message bring transmitted. GORBI recently conducted the only survey in the region to measure how citizens engage with media. This article is based on an analysis of this survey that was written by Chris Anderson, a PhD candidate in the Political Science department at the University of Iowa.
