Georgia on Bloomberg Risk Map

The following phrase caught my eye when looking at the chart of the Global Risk Briefing: ‘Bloomberg’s risk map signals where danger lurks’. I could not believe what I saw there – Georgia was among the countries of the world with the highest risks to survival. We are positioned next to Ecuador, Tunisia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, etc., some of them even doing better than us in some of the indicators. I have nothing against these nations, of course, but, as I know, they qualify as developing countries and, most importantly, none of them is striving for membership in NATO or the European Union.

I am literally dumbfounded! How are we to accede to the highly appreciated Western alliances with those scary Bloomberg numbers? How could they be true? How have we so egregiously fallen? How is it possible that Georgia ranks among the most unsuccessful countries in the world which are under the risk of failure? Could this be a mirage from one of my nightmares, or just a specter of very, very bygone times?

But the fact is a fact: Bloomberg says so, not me! I understand that anybody can lie or err the truth, but why should Bloomberg, a universally respected and trusted media company, have any reason at all to proliferate false information about Georgia? I doubt they have bungled anything, but if they have, should we not take the company to court for the atrocious insult? I wish we had a case but there’ll be no chance – the murder info is right there, in color and all.

If these stupefying figures that I’m looking at as I write are correct, then all our political bla-bla makes zero sense. On the other hand, the Bloomberg data on Georgia could very well be true, judging by the stories I see on the TV, hear on the radio and read in the press on a daily basis. For example, a couple of days ago I came across an article in one of the local papers which reads that in Georgia, just 5 percent of its population is feeding the remaining 95 percent. This means that less than 200 thousand people of four million are working in this country realistically to procreate something specifically valuable that facilitates our survival. I wish that was the only thing which comes to mind.

Some of our inquisitive economists insist that building the market economy, in the true meaning of the term, is a real bust in Georgia as a prerequisite of developed capitalism. To compound the picture, the same economists say that we have built a consuming society rather than a producing one, within which our main concern is biological existence and national survival, not the orientation of the economy on satisfactory social life and wellbeing. On top of all that – I continue reading – building a civic society is belated, and genuine principles of market economy are only words.

The avalanche of negative descriptions of our economic life does not stop there: complete freedom of manufacturers has yet to be achieved; banks are in fact detached from investment activity; the capitalism we have here can only be called wild and uncivilized; one third of our active population has emigrated abroad in search of their share of bread and butter; clannish relationships in business have developed; interests of business and politics have merged; the state budget has lost its investment function, having acquired a consuming function instead; unemployment is becoming rampant; downfall of the economy has been triggered by mismanagement, and the national economy has found itself under a repressive regime. If this informative endeavor is true, then we might want to believe the above Bloomberg analysis. Most likely, Bloomberg would not have risked its reputation for Georgia even though Georgia is its choice for study in the south Caucasus region – Armenia and Azerbaijan not featuring in it.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/global-risk-briefing/ - here is the link one might want to have a look at in case my writing has made the wrong impression. Checking the facts twice never hurts, especially if you are trying to do it by yourself. I’m not saying this for foreign investors, by the way. Hopefully, they are nonchalant towards inquiries and breakdowns like this.

Nugzar B. Ruhadze