POLITICIZATION OF THE ECONOMY AND NON-ECONOMIC POLICY (EXPERIENCE OF POST-COMMUNIST GEORGIA)

Abstract

  It is not so uncommon when the main deterring factor of economic growth is its politicization.  As a matter of fact, economic policy is a part of governmental policy and this means that the “politicization of the economy” is practically unavoidable.  The problem is when the conditioning of the “politicization of the economy” is the type of economic policy that is not based on the achievements of economic science. If economic policy is not only distant from economic science but, on some occasions even contradicts it with its elementary provisions, then this type of economic policy held by a government should be called “non-economic policy.” Among the causes of “non-economic policy,” special attention must be paid to problems in the existing mistakes in economics, in  the  non-professional  economic  team  of  a  government and in the wrong recommendations given to a government by international financial institutions. Post-communist Georgia’s experience gives us noticeable examples when different governments held ‘non-economic policies’ which negatively impacted the country’s development.  As a result of  successful  economic  policies,  economic  reforms  were held  which  subsequently  combatted  hyperinflation  in  the 1990s,  achieved  macroeconomic  stability  and  established the Georgian lari (GEL) as the national currency following currency reform.  Relevant reforms were completely based on economics.  The main problem is the rapprochement of economic policy to economic science. Achievement of this is only possible in the case when economic policy is elaborated by highly professional economists.