A Brief History of Georgian Labor Market
During the Soviet period, central planning priorities determined the allocation of LABOR within the economy. The system guaranteed full employment and enterprises provided a comprehensive range of social benefits to workers and their family members. In Georgia, the structure of employment reflected that of the economy as a whole, with one quarter of the employed population in agriculture, one third in industry and the rest in the service sector (mainly in health, education and public administration). Georgia also had a developed ’second’, or parallel, LABOR market, which included a variety of activities from ’speculation (purchasing and reselling rare goods for a profit), to unofficial trade in agricultural products and the operation of large-scale underground enterprises.
Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Georgia’s GDP shrank by more than 70%, as a result of the disruption of inter-republican trade links and civil war. However, contrary to expectations, unemployment did not increase proportionally, due to substantial LABOR hoarding and an increase in informal activity. Read more
Arguments for Unification of Monetary and Supervisory Functions into the Single Authority
Proponents of unification of monetary and supervisory functions into the single authority mainly rest on three arguments, in particular: systemic risk, monetary conduct and payment system, which in their turn rely on the synergy arisen from the information point of view. They claim that as information is crucial for those three reasons, transfer of information might be devastatingly damaged by the separation of monetary and supervisory functions.
Argument says that the central bank needs information not only about financial market operations, but also how they are managed and changed, which is hardly transferable in separated institution. Informal, “inside” information on how managers react and what strategies they pursue—the “feel” of an operation—simply cannot be duplicated by reading reports or consulting with other agencies. Read more
