Why the Koreans feel betrayed
Güven Sak, PhD
24 March 2012
I do not recall any political leader in Turkey’s past who was committed to free market principles in the way Korean leader Park Chung Hee was. I was surprised, at a recent conference in Seoul, to find out the Koreans feel betrayed. Not over some Western policy toward North Korea, mind you. They feel betrayed by the global financial system for allowing Greece to be bailed out. They are disturbed by how quickly some Europeans reached to nonmarket solutions when things got tough. Perhaps the Germans should look to expand the Union to Asia. What perplexed me, however, is not how Koreans feel about this, but that I have not heard of a similar argument in Turkey. Why do we, as the neighbors of Greece and candidates for EU membership, not feel cheated by the nonmarket solutions in Gree
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Taxes and investment climate
Fatih Özatay, PhD
23 March 2012
Minister Şimşek stated that if a tax rebate was to be launched, the first step would be to cut taxes on employment. I did not listen to Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek on tax rates; but I saw the headlines of his statements in the news. As far as I understood, he stated that if a tax rebate was to be launched, the first step would be to cut taxes on employment, followed by communication taxes.
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I felt like a loser in Seoul
Güven Sak, PhD
23 March 2012
If you are proud of İstinye Park in Istanbul, Seoul is entirely designed like that. I have been in South Korea’s capital Seoul for the last few days. This is my first time here. On your way from the airport to the hotel in any country, you can easily understand if you are in a civilized city or in a hardship area. Seoul is at the heart of civilization. You can tell if a city is civilized simply from its streets. Let me tell you how.
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Two calm summers
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
22 March 2012
Leaders who have to live with problems that are left hanging in the air are bound to deal with more complicated problems than those that are visible. That kind of problem is fatally related to every issue in the country in a way. One cannot deal separately with any issue as if there were no Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) problem. You have to keep it in your mind always. In light of this, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will try to deal with complicated problems in the coming months, problems like domestic political struggles becoming more and more complicated on one hand, and problems in foreign policy getting to be as complicated on the other. In addition, those two problems interact with each other. In domestic politics, the most important issue which interests Erdoğan perso
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Inflation must not be ignored
Fatih Özatay, PhD
22 March 2012
Purchasing power of the lira almost halved since January 2005, when six digits were deleted. Year-end inflation target is 5 percent. The Central Bank of Turkey (CBT), however, estimates that inflation will reach 6.5 percent at the end of the year. In other words, the CBT expects a 4-point drop in inflation compared to the end of 2011. There is an agreement among analysts that inflation will decrease year-on-year by the end of 2012.
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Anatolia is not in the Customs Union yet
Güven Sak, PhD
20 March 2012
The main clients for the emerging industrial centers of Anatolia are the Middle East and North Africa, not Europe. Turkey as a whole signed the Customs Union (CU) agreement only on paper. In legal terms, Anatolia is under the scope of the CU. In practice, however, Europe is not the main client for the emerging industrial centers of Anatolia. Mustafa Boydak, member of TOBB Executive Board and Chairman of the Kayseri Chamber of Industry, explained why during the Uludağ Economics Summit: because domestic transportation costs are extremely high in Turkey. Since Anatolia is distant from the European market, it is not able to utilize the benefits of the CU to the highest extent possible. Anatolia is outside of the CU not because Europe excludes Anatolia as a center of production. It is because t
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Continued on innovation
Fatih Özatay, PhD
20 March 2012
Prominent feature of the leading innovators is the high level of firm activity in innovative areas, high level of R&D funds in particular. Last Saturday, I talked about a report on innovation which is published regularly to compare the innovation performance of European Union countries and candidate countries, and “the innovation index” on which the report is based. The distinctive feature of the report and the index is that it assesses innovativeness at three dimensions. The elements comprising these three dimensions constitute the rings of a chain which starts with advanced R&D activities and education to new products.
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The European Union has to be Turkey’s Growth Story
19 March 2012
Ever more of us nowadays think that the crisis in Europe has shaken the foundations of Turkey’s European Union (EU) project. Looking at the acceleration of the trade figures between Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa, some get caught up in the notion that the region might be an alternative to the EU as a partner for Turkey. I personally feel sorry for those who think that the EU is breaking down and that Turkey has an alternative. I have always thought that the EU was the only thing that could transform Turkey positively in the twenty-first century, just as the Republican project transformed it in the twentieth. This idea of has been strengthened lately.
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Turkey’s relative performance of innovation
Fatih Özatay, PhD
17 March 2012
The new seating and voting order the Education Commission adopted will definitely contribute to Turkey’s position in the 2012 innovation index. I gossiped on the current account deficit for the last two commentaries. Today, I want to comment on a “deep” aspect about the current account deficit. I am planning to hit two birds with a stone, associating today’s topic with the 4+4+4 education bill the Parliament is currently negotiating. The subject is innovation, a concept for which we do not have a proper Turkish word. Maybe, it is for a reason, which the following discussion might reveal. Yes, why not? A noteworthy report
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How Syria is so much like Turkey
Güven Sak, PhD
17 March 2012
I have been thinking about how much Syria resembles Turkey lately. This year of unrest across the border gave me a whole new perspective. The similarity is obviously not one of industrial development, production of sophisticated goods or democratic development. It is a similarity of style. I have come to this conclusion after being regularly exposed to President al-Assad of Syria on Turkish television this past year. He is usually shown addressing Syria’s Parliament in a colossal room with wood-ornamented walls. All the MPs are constantly applauding his every word, and there is at least one standing ovation at every meeting. Sound familiar? I have been accustomed to this since my childhood, from our own weekly party meetings at the Turkish Grand National Assembly. So Turkey’s pol
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