Some observations on the academic life-2
Fatih Özatay, PhD
11 June 2011
If some studies had not been published, and fewer trees would have been cut and less paper would have been wasted. I addressed the disincentive mechanisms in the academic life and the weird results these give way to focusing on the associate professor qualification examinations. I stressed two findings about the candidates. First was that, there existed significant qualitative differences between the studies conducted by candidates, which is quite unnatural. Second, some candidates are not aware of the high-quality studies in the field they lecture. . In some extreme cases the candidate teaches MA or PhD level courses but does not know the names, let alone the contents of the generally accepted and though books in the field. And the main problem with some jury members is that they ask ques
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Turkey is still on the edge of the known world
Güven Sak, PhD
10 June 2011
Turkey is still on the edge of the known world. It is not inside but outside civilization. I do not know where in the world Turkey established its system. When I look at it, I can't see it. In economic terms, what I see is that Turkey is still on the edge of the known world. It is not inside but outside civilization. Recently, an American friend described where Turkey stands in the eyes of the American business world. Let me take a departure from that point. "Countries can be grouped in two categories," he said. "Those the future of which we are sure while facing difficulty in understanding what they currently are trying to do," and "those the future of which we are not sure, and we face difficulty in understanding what they currently are trying to do." "Turkey," he said, "seems to be clo
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The first string to the pitch, substitutes to the bench
Fatih Özatay, PhD
09 June 2011
The infantry rifle the CBT fired hoping for the impossible might backfire, harming its own reputation. The number of players on the pitch must be increased as soon as possible. Recently I have written a number of commentaries on monetary policy. The first reason was that the monetary policy in effect was an unusual one. Second was that there populated many reports that have the potential to harm the reputation of the monetary policy authority. Third reason was that financial investors frequently expressed that they were confused by the new policy framework. Therefore, it was necessary to address the new monetary policy in detail.
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Circumstances for the Central Bank becomes harder
Fatih Özatay, PhD
07 June 2011
Why did the CBT reduce policy rate given the scope of uncertainties, the rise in the current account deficit? In the first phase of the implementation of the new policy framework, officials of the Central Bank of Turkey (CBT) referred to two important figures. First shows the "policy rate for financial stability" and "policy rate for price stability" for different output gaps. This figure makes us think that the CBT believes that in the case of rapid improvement in the production level, interest rate required for financial stability will be higher than that required for price stability. This is the aimed scenario: high growth rate, level of production above or rapidly approaching the potential rate of production. The CBT states that an interest rate consistent with the inflation target wil
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Why do global chains skip Turkey?
Güven Sak, PhD
07 June 2011
We should not expect an improvement in Turkish-American trade unless Turkey receives investments from the US. The global crisis did not skip Turkey; it made a hole in it and passed on. Those affected seriously still recall the pain. This is exactly why the votes of the ruling party fell below 40 percent in the local elections of 2009. Unlike the global crisis, however, the global value chains still skip Turkey. Countries, then, can be grouped in two categories: "those through which a global value chain passes" and "those through which a global value chain does not pass." Turkey is in the second group. It has weak relations with the world, which is bad. This should be fixed. Becoming a country through which a global value chain passes is harder than becoming a country through which a pipeli
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Some observations on the academic life
Fatih Özatay, PhD
04 June 2011
I am not a specialist in education. I did not conduct any studies on university education, either. I am planning to refer to my experience in these activities. A couple of weeks ago I said that I will address disincentive mechanisms in the academic world and their outcomes; but I postponed writing on this issue. This was a risky decision as it might have raised expectations among the readers of this column that I will present important analysis on the academic life. But this is not a just expectation.
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Unbelievable!
Güven Sak, PhD
03 June 2011
The challenge facing bookstores was not a new one, but I believe another nail in the coffin was struck by the iPad, the last invention of Apple. "Washington resembles Istanbul in summer and Ankara in winter," people say. But this summer in Washington DC, the capital of the United States of America, is a bit different. The weather is very hot and humid. You feel the urge to change your clothes after a fifteen minute walk. I had not been in the city for a year. This time I witnessed an unexpected change. I saw that the bookstores that I used to visit so often and had memorized the locations of were either closed or about to be closed. You eagerly walk, saying "Borders must be just next to the corner" and come up with an empty store. This is like the demolition of the temples of booklovers. I
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That reputation was not earned easily
Fatih Özatay, PhD
02 June 2011
Please do not refer to senseless indicators in the CBT reports to convince people that the pace of the credit expansion is not that high. Famous and recently deceased economist R. Dornbusch argued that if the central bank of a developing country starts to calculate different real interest rate indices to convince the markets that the currency is not valuable, you can be sure that the currency is actually valuable and the country is faced with serious problems.
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Europe is a matter of existence for Turkey
Güven Sak, PhD
31 May 2011
The extended crisis on the continent will structuralize Turkey's problem. Are you aware? A group of countries becomes distinguished from others when you examine the growth and foreign trade figures for the post-crisis era. The group is led by China and includes Brazil, Argentina and Peru. We already are familiar with the Chinese phenomenon, but what does a series of Latin American countries have to do on this list? Turkey lags behind Latin American countries by a narrow margin concerning its growth performance and by a long shot concerning its foreign trade performance. Why is that so? Let us take a look at it. Today let me underline some trends in foreign trade I have observed for those who are squeezed within meaningless political analysis.
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Sometimes it is useful not to forget
Fatih Özatay, PhD
31 May 2011
An academic study concluded that many banks did not learn from the 1998 crisis and that the risk culture did not change. A web site I mentioned a couple of times presents the summary of an interesting academic study with an understandable and clear language. The study makes reference to the name of a book that was published during the crisis and was also translated into Turkish. Those interested in financial crises will probably remember the name of the book: "This Time is Different".
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