Practical Economics - Economic Transformation and Government Reform in Georgia

CID Student Ambassador Mohamed Quamar interviews Nika Gilauri, former Prime Minister of Georgia. Nika talks about his book, Practical Economics, in which he provides a detailed analysis of the reforms made in Georgia from 2004-2012. Interview recorded on February 17, 2017. About "Practical Economics": The book starts by discussing why the Georgian case is exemplary for other countries and proceeds to describe the fight against corruption, the rightsizing of government, the creation of a business-friendly environment, tax and customs reform, the privatization of state-owned enterprises, energy sector reforms, and smart spending approaches applied to welfare, healthcare, education, and procurement. In some cases, the description draws on the experiences of other countries, either because they served as an inspiration for Georgia’s reforms or because approaches pioneered in Georgia were successfully applied there. In a nutshell, this book is an attempt to answer one question: how do you manage a transformation to bring about fast and sustainable growth?