Index obsession-1
Fatih Özatay, PhD
16 April 2011
The study is recognized to be qualified if it is published in a journal involved in a respected index. However, this recognition would not always be true. In his commentary on April 8th, Mr. Eyüp Can, Executive Director of Radikal newspaper, wrote that the problems about higher education in Turkey must be handled thoroughly. In this context he talked about some higher education "routines". One was "advancing in the "swimming against the tide" branch by making effort to increase the number of studies quoted in indices without paying attention to the value added created."
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Korea banned the import of Apple's iPad for approximately nine months
Güven Sak, PhD
15 April 2011
In the 1970s, Turkey and Korea were similar. Today, however, Korea is a much more advanced industrial country than Turkey. Yesterday I stated that countries can be grouped in two categories, "undistinguished economies that have the means to produce only ordinary products" and "economies with high potential that can produce unique products." Remember? I said the more undistinguished an economy was, the lower its per capita income. At the same time, the countries that succeeded in developing the capacity to produce unique products make fewer mistakes in administering the university entrance examinations, for instance. The capacity of a country in one sector is an indication of its capacity in another sector. The capacity of hospitals indicates the capacity of the post offices. However skill
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If the fiscal policy is not tight
Fatih Özatay, PhD
14 April 2011
Turkey has chosen to implement a "loose" fiscal policy in 2010 taking into account the general elections ahead. Turkey's economy grew impressively by 8.9 percent in 2010. The economy had overcome the "v" shaped trough hit during the crisis in the third quarter. The gross domestic product (GDP) attained in the fourth quarter certified the turning around of the economy. The peak level of GDP before the crisis was recorded in the first quarter of 2008. The GDP in the last quarter of 2010 is 5.4 percent higher than the peak level before the crisis.
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Why does the Gao Kao’s system work but not that of the OSYM?
Güven Sak, PhD
12 April 2011
This is Turkey. This is why the Gao Kao can offer the university entrance test to 9.5 million students while the OSYM fails to offer sound services to only 1.5 million. World economies can be grouped in two categories: undistinguished economies that have the means to produce only ordinary products and economies with high potential that can produce unique products. The more undistinguished an economy is, the lower its per capita income. Turkey's economy has become increasingly undistinguished as its export markets have diversified. But this has not been the case with China. Not only did China's Gao Kao, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, not mess up the university entrance examinations as the OSYM, the Student Selection and Placement Center, did in Turkey, but also China
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Do short term fund inflows slow down?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
12 April 2011
Banking and the corporate sector could access to long term borrowing. Moreover, use of long term capital stood above that of short term capital. Balance of payments statistics for February were announced yesterday. Current account deficit was quite high in 2010, corresponding to 6.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Turkey had high current account deficit in the past, too. For instance, in 2006 the ratio of the current account deficit to the GDP was 6.1 percent.
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In which direction will Turkey grow?
11 April 2011
Turkey's economy grew by 8.9 percent in 2010. This is really impressive. If the growth rate is sustained at this level until 2023, the national income will reach US$ 2.2 trillion and Turkey will become the 10th largest economy of the world. If this performance can be maintained, in fifty years, a child born in 2011 will be 46 times richer than his/her grandfather was.
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Smart boys
Fatih Özatay, PhD
09 April 2011
You cannot benefit sufficiently from the experts at international standards which are already few and thus you cannot fulfill your desires in the international race of development. I would like to dig deeper in the last paragraph of my commentary on Thursday. It ended as follows: "Unfortunately, level of educational attainment and skills in Turkey is not as high as the developed countries or those rapidly catching up with the developed countries. We are all aware of this fact. However, we frequently miss out the fact that we cannot sufficiently make use of the experts that have above-the-average level of educational attainment and skills. To put it differently, we fail to benefit sufficiently from the potential we have."
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The world’s center of gravity shifts from Izmir to Diyarbakır
Güven Sak, PhD
08 April 2011
While we are dealing with the Kurdish opening or the knee-deep scandals about the university placement exam, the world around us is changing at the speed of light. The center of gravity of the world's economy shifts continuously. It is near Izmir these days. But, wait, it will shift to Diyarbakır by 2016. The economic center of attraction of the world is not shifting towards Turkey because something is happening here; and when it settles in Turkey, it will not be because of something unique to Turkey. While we are dealing with the Kurdish opening or the knee-deep scandals about the university placement exam, the world around us is changing at the speed of light. But we keep on listening to fairy tales. Today, I want to start my commentary by saying that the economic crisis in the European
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Is the code in the university entrance exam also the code of the level of welfare?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
07 April 2011
Citizens' having high educational attainment and a wide set of skills are one of the main reasons enabling nation-wide prosperity. I took the university entrance exam in 1973. Back then, Middle East Technical University (METU) made a separate exam in addition to the general university entrance exam. I took the general exam; but the next day newspapers were full of allegations that exam questions were stolen and disclosed to some students. If I am not mistaken, it was the Cumhuriyet newspaper that first featured such allegations. In the end, it was understood that the claimed scandal was real; and thus the exam was cancelled.
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The silver medal is not won; you lose the gold medal by a hair’s breadth
Güven Sak, PhD
05 April 2011
In 2009, Turkey's economy contracted like a developed country's economy that had suffered the effects of a banking crisis. And in 2010, Turkey's economy recovered like a developing country's economy. It appears that the remarkable recovery of Turkey's economy in 2010 will be discussed at length even in the future. If you see the economic growth process as a sports contest, you will tend to assess the issue as "let's see in which fields we rank first." I believe this is almost inevitable on the eve of elections. Indeed, Honorable Prime Minister Erdoğan could not help himself and declared, "Turkey ranks first among the OECD countries." So today, let me announce my rankings. If you are curious about these, please read on.
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