Are you aware of what we have forgotten?
Güven Sak, PhD
14 January 2010
On his way to Russia, Honorable Prime Minister of Turkey repeated the same thing: "Masallah, you are doing very very well." And like a combatant, who, to those pitying to his bruised eye at last night's fight, says 'you should see how their faces look like!' he added: 'you should see how the others are suffering.' You cannot respond, "No, we have access to the Internet. We know what goes around in the rest of the world immediately." After all, he is the Prime Minister; we do not want to get into trouble. Today, let us not waste time with this "political" (that is, incorrect) findings and address the issues that went down to the drain in the face of the global crisis. This way, we can also preserve our sanity. If you will not be depressed, please keep reading.
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Have you heard about Amazon Kindle?
Güven Sak, PhD
09 January 2010
We might not be aware, but the world is still on a change. I am not talking about the "changes" brought forward to spice up the daily disputes. The world has been changing deep down due to quite structural reasons. And technologic change does not care about any crisis. Question of today is; have you ever thought how Kindle can change the world?
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Are you ready for Turkey’s test with the youth?
Güven Sak, PhD
05 January 2010
These are the first days of 2010. The process we are in for a while now somehow reminds me Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities." Do you remember how the story begins? It reads like this: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." It seems that 2010 is most likely to be such a period. I will not be making a political analysis. In contrast, I believe that the "Ankara Tussles" overshadow the real agenda item. I believe that 2010 will be the year for Turkey's test with the youth. Let me explain why.
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Fiscal policy can go beyond arrogance
Güven Sak, PhD
31 December 2009
The foreseeability of fiscal policy is a top priority issue for 2010. It is probable that the consequences of the wrong decisions of yesterday will be felt in 2010. The situation is serious if not impossible to solve. Problem lies in the seriousness of the government. Let us see what the issue is.
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What does a public institution has to do in the list of most popular websites?
Güven Sak, PhD
26 December 2009
As per 2008, 26.5 million people in Turkey use the Internet. The number was 2.5 million people in 2000. Number of internet users rose by 40 percent in 2008 compared to the year before. If we assume that the rate will prevail, number of internet users must have reached 35 million in 2009. Have you wondered what do all these people do online? I took a look at it for Turkey and for other countries. Do you know that a public institution ranks the thirty third in the most popular websites ranking? Do you also know that in other countries you do not see public institutions in the most popular websites list? Website of the Ministry of National Education of Turkey (MoNE) is the 33rd most visited website among Turkey. When rankings for other countries are examined, the different can be grasped. So,
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2010 will be the year where the resistance of firms will be tested
Güven Sak, PhD
24 December 2009
The question of today is how 2010 will be. Let us start without wasting time: 2010 will be the year where the resistance of banks and non-bank corporate sector will be tested. Here, "resistance" is directly related with the "size of caches" of firms, according to the concise expression of Honorable Prime Minister of Turkey. First the meaning of the term cache must be well understood. Then, the testing of the resistance of firms must be dealt with. The first question to be answered is why the year 2009 passed along in a relative tranquility. Did the government introduce any measure or something?
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If designing the future is ignored while facing the past, we cannot see any recovery
Güven Sak, PhD
22 December 2009
Yesterday gave at the caption "Young entrepreneurs are uneasy." Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) launched the largest young entrepreneur movement of Turkey, last week in Ankara. Democratic chamber movement began to organize young entrepreneurs following women entrepreneurs. This was a move in the right direction. First Congress of Young Entrepreneurs Board was held in Ankara. The meeting was attended by 1500 delegates from all around Turkey. Participants were young; 70 percent between 30-39 years old and 30 percent between 20-29 years old. But, what did that caption in Referans daily imply? Were young entrepreneurs actually uneasy? The impression I got in the meeting was in fact quite different.
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Demand for platinum does surge even despite the crisis
Güven Sak, PhD
19 December 2009
According to a recent story in the British Financial Times, the answer for the statement above is quite simple: Because the number of weddings in China rises. Let us see why? If you wonder whether China will grow rapidly or did the crisis come to an end yet, please keep reading.
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Will the Check Law slow down recovery?
Güven Sak, PhD
17 December 2009
Answer for the question above is affirmative. Let us see why. This is exactly a "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" situation. Attempts for a regulation with good intentions have the potential to generate adverse outcomes. I guess there are a number of clumsy moves the government has made since 2007. Some moves do not automatically give good results just because you have good intentions. Before trusting in God, you should sit and think how the issue will evolve. This is the moral of the study that must be stated from the beginning.
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What is Turkey’s goal in COP15?
Güven Sak, PhD
12 December 2009
Do you know what COP15 means? Fifteenth United Nations Climate Change conference is currently carried out in Copenhagen (COP15). The meeting focuses on two points: First is limiting the annual carbon emission rates caused by our current daily lives in order to make the beautiful blue planet of us habitable for a longer period. And second is, given that current life styles of human beings result in increasingly higher carbon emissions every year, deciding who will undertake the burden of our changing life styles and how. Will the meeting produce such decision? We believe not. In fact, on the way toward the Copenhagen Summit; there was a belief that an agreement to replace Kyoto Protocol would be reached. We are certain that to agreement will be reached and it is also apparent which directio
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