The Turkish state is Internet illiterate
Güven Sak, PhD
15 October 2013
The Turkish state is Internet-illiterate. It has no interest in the progress of the Internet economy. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 was recently announced. The academy decided to award the prize jointly to Martin Karpluss, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel for using computer models to successfully simulate chemical experiments. The prize winner scientists had laid the foundation for the computer modeling of complex chemical processes. In the past, Nobel Prize winner chemists studied at their desks using a pencil and a piece of paper, or at the blackboard with chalk. Today, technological chance has been rapidly paving the way for scientific development. Information and communication technologies (ICT) change each and every aspect of the world as well as scientific studies. And the chang
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The politics of polarized country
Güven Sak, PhD
12 October 2013
Actions speak louder than words. The Constitutional Reconciliation Commission in Ankara’s Parliament is still working. In principle, all of the four political parties are equally represented there. They are drafting the new constitution of the country. The new constitution was supposed to be the beacon of democracy and liberty in completing Turkey’s transformation process. Yet everybody in Ankara is acting as if there was no problem with the constitution process. Actions though, speak louder than words. The new democracy package says it all: Turkey’s transformation process does not look like it will come up with a new constitution any time soon. Democratization needs to wait. It’s the politics of a polarized country stuck in the mud. Let me tell you why.The looming question in An
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Let's both eat and lose weight
Güven Sak, PhD
11 October 2013
It's good that Turkey has a medium-term plan, but I don't understand how we can increase our domestic savings rate while at the same time maintain growth based on domestic demand. The Medium-Term Program (MTP) was announced the other day. The MTP calls for discipline for the public sector for the next three years. It's good. I went through it. But it left the taste in my mouth, like those television programs that say, "Let's both eat and lose weight." That's quite nice, actually. You both put no limits on yourself and continue to eat, and you lose weight miraculously. At the same time, all of your test levels fall to optimum levels. Wouldn't that be great? People definitely want to believe in this. You make no effort, but you lose weight. Look how I got this way.
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Obama too will know his place
Güven Sak, PhD
08 October 2013
Everyone has to know his or her place, including President Obama, who is in his second term as the leader of the most powerful country of the world. The US government was shut down because the American Congress, using its budget right, did not approve the government budget. Here in Turkey, the executor of the budget right, the Grand National Assembly, has been unable to see the audit reports on public institutions prepared by the Court of Accounts because the reports have not been submitted to the Assembly for some time now. Which one do you think is more democratic? I vote for the former. Let me tell you why.
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Wonder why Iran has invented Rouhani?
Güven Sak, PhD
05 October 2013
I was at a TEPAV-BP-Energy Ministry event when I saw why Iran had invented Hasan Rouhani: in 2011, the major disruption to the supply of oil was the Libyan uprising against Gaddafi. In 2012, it is Iran.
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YÖK is a lost cause
Güven Sak, PhD
04 October 2013
YÖK is a body of political tutelage and has nothing to do with higher education, established to expand the rule of martial law to the universities. Lately, I have been thinking that we have been seeing issues from the wrong angle. At the old street fairs, pickpockets would distract people by saying things like “hey, look at that acrobat: he's about to fall down!” and then would pick your wallet. Just like that, decoys are being used to distract us. It is, however, better to look after your wallet in the crowd.
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Would you embark on an investment with a return of forty years?
Güven Sak, PhD
01 October 2013
At this rate, the twenty-first century will not be Turkey’s century. There will be no Turkish miracle like the Korean miracle. Not by producing small fry and accepting a narrow mindset. All parents wish a better life and better qualifications for their children. The other day I asked, “Would you invest in a nice house or education for your children?” I meant to emphasize that there is something fundamentally wrong in Turkey. Today’s keyword is "quality." The quality of the skills set of the labor force is more important than ever, yet there is no action. Albeit the Baath-style, big talks rallying in the group meetings of political parties, the situation is clear for those who want to see and hear.
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There is something fundamentally wrong in Turkey
Güven Sak, PhD
28 September 2013
Turkey’s transformation is a success story no more. In 1980, Turkey was an economy exporting only $3 billion worth of goods, 90 percent of which were agricultural products. In 2012, we had an export level of 150 billion, 90 percent of which was made up of industrial products. This means that from 1980 until today, Turkey has switched from low-tech to mid-tech products. But we seem to be stuck there at the moment, and there is no sign yet of moving toward the hi-tech. Turkey is now a country where its own electronics giant, instead of pursuing innovation-based growth, is moving into the construction business. It is simply easier to earn money that way. Is there something fundamentally wrong in Turkey? I am afraid so. So what is wrong? Either our companies are doing something wron
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Not before the second era of the rentier economy is over
Güven Sak, PhD
27 September 2013
If you can guarantee profits without adding any value simply by building things, you won't risk investments in technology. PwC Consulting announced its list of global top 100 companies, ranked by market capitalization. Here are three observations for you concerning the list: first, there are no companies from Turkey on it. The 100th company on the list has a market capitalization of $70 billion, compared to the $20 billion of Turkey’s largest company. Second, between 2008 and 2013, newcomers constituted one third of the list, climbing up in market capitalization. There is no such dynamism in Turkey. The companies from Turkey on the Forbes 2000 list are predominatly holdings and banks from the 1950s. Third, from 2008 to 2013, manufacturing industry companies that concentrate on new technolo
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A country with a narrow mindset cannot make it to the top ten of the world
Güven Sak, PhD
24 September 2013
Turkish companies do not have a global mindset. Public support mechanisms trail behind the global standards and fail to adapt to global developments. Turkey still has way to go in opening up to the world. Let’s admit that Turkey is an introverted country. Our Ottoman ancestors were not like that, however. They used to rule an empire that was open to the world. They kept a close eye on world developments, in an effort to make Istanbul the center of the earth. Because of this, even the fall of the empire lasted for a century. Turkey has yet to completely overcome the trauma of losing the empire. It has become introverted.
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