Who wants Kim?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
20 December 2011
Why do the North Korean people fail to overthrow the dictatorship which has been confining them to death of starvation for decades? On the North Korean channel yesterday, a brunette lady with short hair wearing black clothes was reading what is written on the paper she holds, with tears in her eyes. What she read was the death knell of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korean. The news channel screening the broadcast via the North Korean TV also broadcasted a military march past from North Korea. Soldiers in goose steps were saluting their leaders stridently. On the next scene were missiles with nuclear warheads passing by Kim Jong-il. Deaths of starvation Another channel announcing the death of Kim Jong-il was reporting that two million North Koreans died of starvation. Some argue that
[More]
No innovation without a new constitution
Güven Sak, PhD
20 December 2011
Turkey has to “be realistic and demand the impossible” for a new constitution. This is the only way it can become the tenth largest economy of the world. Have you ever thought if the innovation process in an economy and the new constitution might be associated? This is what the Worldwide Governance Indicators published by the World Bank reveals. In my consideration, no innovation can be made in Turkey without a new constitution. Let me tell you what I saw, and then you decide.
[More]
Need for a new economic program (5)
Fatih Özatay, PhD
17 December 2011
The level and quality of education as well as the technological content of production and export must be enhanced remarkably. Let me continue the series on the “need for a new economic program” where I stopped last time. The series started with the growth-unemployment correlation and proceeded with growth-current account deficit and savings gap of Turkey. Today I want to address another important challenge.
[More]
Between Sarkozy and Erdogan
Güven Sak, PhD
17 December 2011
A new problem is looming between France and Turkey. Its origin, however, does not lie in Anatolia, but in France's domestic politics. Europe's financial crisis remains to be solved. The continent is moving towards a fiscal union, with mechanisms for short-term liquidity provision taking shape. But there is still the issue of reigniting the engines of growth in Europe's economies. This is a herculean task, directly related to changing the social contract between Europe's people and its governments. It is not about French and the others being lazy, but about dysfunctional laws on labor, retail and other outdated legislation on industry. Sarkozy was elected to change the course of France. Remember how enthusiastic the French business community was when he was elected? Look where we are now: a
[More]
High-quality governance requires a new constitution
Ozan Acar
16 December 2011
The spirit of the current 1982 Constitution is felt in many areas from what we learned in primary school to the terms and conditions of qualifying for retirement. The hierarchy of norms states that the laws, regulations and legislations citizens have to oblige throughout their social and economic relations shall not contradict with constitution. Rules might change, but constitutionality is an invariable condition. Therefore, it is the constitution that draws the line for the reforms regarding institutional infrastructure of Turkey.
[More]
Bear in mind Maynard's warning
Güven Sak, PhD
16 December 2011
“One thing that has always surprised me about the Turkish economy is that it has ended up with accumulating wealth at the end of all periods of imbalance.” The Turkish economy grew by 9.6 percent in the first nine months of 2011. Over the same period, the Chinese and Indian economies grew by 9.4 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. Among the top ten of the fast growth list, eight of them are China, India, and their suppliers. The remaining two are the only ones of their kind: Turkey and Israel. Let me pose the first question in my mind without belaboring: Is it a good thing that Turkey grew by 9.6 percent in the first nine months of 2011? The answer: Any form of growth is definitely good. Any form of growth contributes to the accumulation of wealth and resources. Here is the second quest
[More]
Things are the same at FED, we must focus on Europe
Fatih Özatay, PhD
15 December 2011
We should not expect a policy change that will trigger capital outflow from countries like Turkey until the end of 2012. After the committee meeting the day before, the Federal Reserve (FED) made a release which maintained that while the economy had been expanding moderately, unemployment rate remained elevated. It drew attention to the risk that problems of the global financial system might reverse the moderate growth performance. Also, it highlighted that inflation had moderated.
[More]
Do you think the PKK is stupid?
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
15 December 2011
Turkey-Syria relations are getting tenser by the day. Turkey is not only criticizing the Syrian government for its methods but also drawing attention to the PKK problem. Some people are pushing Turkey toward Syria by using the PKK argument, but nobody feels the need to question whether this argument is consistent. Nowadays, the question of whether these arguments can be substantiated is less important than the fact that there are “great men” who are willing to buy them.
[More]
The crisis did not hit the Turkey 25
Güven Sak, PhD
13 December 2011
Where will a company that has an annual turnover of US$ 1 billion and that grows annually by 250 percent in average be in five years? Recently, the 25 fastest growing companies in Turkey were announced under the leadership of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). The companies that made it onto the list are available at this link: http://bit.ly/rqTiWL. The list involves companies that demonstrated the fastest growth performance during the 2008-2010 period. Did you know that the average annual growth of the Turkey 25 companies over this three-year period was 250 percent? Or have you heard that the total annual turnover of these companies is almost worth US$ 1 billion? Did you know that their employment grew by 143 percent and reached around 5000? I think we have no
[More]
Will the Turkish economy grow in 2012?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
13 December 2011
2012 growth rate at the 1 to 3 percent interval seems reasonable. Yesterday, third quarter growth rate was announced at 8.2 percent. Growth figure for the first quarter, which had been revised upwards before, was updated in the same direction once again, to 12 percent. Therefore, Turkish economy grew by 9.6 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2011. Let me stress two points first.
[More]
