You should not rent a car in India
Güven Sak, PhD
19 October 2012
Turkey is a country where you can rent a car; India is not. But there are interesting similarities between the two countries. There are two types of countries in the world: those where you prefer to rent a car to travel around during a short visit and those where you wouldn’t even consider doing so. Turkey is in the first group, India is definitely in the second. If you ask me, no one should rent a car in India. Let me tell you why.
[More]
Turkey has to put on the brakes because of its disorganized urban transformation
Güven Sak, PhD
16 October 2012
In Turkey, as spending on housing contributes more to the GDP, the domestic savings rate decreases. Turkey is not like China. When it achieves high growth rates like China, it has to slow down to cool the engine now and then. After a couple of years of high growth, Turkey has to slow down and take a deep breath. Why? Because Turkey’s savings rate is almost one-fourth that of China’s. Turkey used to compare better in the past.
[More]
Oil should not hinder change in Cyprus
Güven Sak, PhD
12 October 2012
Did you know that Northern Cyprus’s is not performing as strongly as Muğla in terms of tourism? When it comes to the economy of Cyprus, I instantly think of an anecdote I heard two years ago, one that’s like a joke, but summarizes the state of affairs in the Northern Cyprus. The owner of a pizza shop located on a university campus in Northern Cyprus rushes into the office of a university administrator. “I have a complaint," he says. "I serve hot pizzas on campus, but students are ordering pizza from a village half an hour away. This is unacceptable!” The administrator asks, “what do you want me to do?” and the owner responds, “put a ban on ordering pizza from off campus.” This is the automatic option shop owners in Northern Cyprus think of. Prices are controlled by the state and it is neve
[More]
No advanced-technology without basic sciences
Güven Sak, PhD
09 October 2012
Turkey’s export statistics signal low-growth in the medium-term. The resource constraints indicate that the solution will not be easy.
[More]
Can Morsi be Egypt’s Özal?
Güven Sak, PhD
06 October 2012
If I were Egyptian, I would look for an urbanization policy that goes hand in hand with the industrial policy. Turkey and Egypt have just signed an agreement for Turkey to extend $2 billion of credit to Egypt. This is meant to support the new economic program that the Egyptian government is trying to put together with the IMF. The program is almost complete, but there are tough choices that Egypt needs to make.
[More]
The youth do not even want to be engineers
Güven Sak, PhD
05 October 2012
First, the best members of a generation refrain from studying the basic sciences as they believe that other options offer better job opportunities and thus a better life standard. We can say that choosing a profession in Turkey depends on your luck: you take the university exam and select universities you prefer among those for which your score qualifies. So, you can choose the university you want to study at provided that you perform well in the exam and fill out the university selection form reasonably. Actually, let me correct myself: this is the de facto picture. Students who ranked in the top 1000 in the Student Selection and Placement Examination choose whatever profession they desire as they are the best of their year. Examination results have a meaning, but have you ever checked wh
[More]
The new challenge for Turkey: low growth, high current account deficit
Güven Sak, PhD
02 October 2012
In times of high growth and high current account deficit, we at least knew what we were faced with. It used to be that the high growth-high current account deficit duo would cause us anxiety. We wrote a great deal about it. And today, we are anxious about the possible outcomes of the low growth and high current account deficit combination. The second issue of the Economic Conditions Report prepared by the TEPAV Finance Institute has been released. The best part to me is the warning about this new combination. Why? It’s quite simple: it is a new phenomenon for Turkey. So, we want to know, first, if it is a transition period phenomenon, and second, how it can be managed. It is now better understood that economic policy management is a sort of juggling process. You have to juggle five balls a
[More]
Disbanding militias in Benghazi
Güven Sak, PhD
29 September 2012
If you live in a normal country, you are probably not allowed to own a rocket launcher. Last week I read in the Libya Herald that authorities in that country had decided to disband militias in Benghazi. Here is what I think about the issue: First of all, it does not look like the decision of a strong government. Strong governments, by definition, do not have this problem. Second, the decision covers Benghazi only and neglects the rest of the vast country. Third, I still consider this to be a step in the right direction. Keeping in mind the conditions during Gadhafi’s Mickey Mouse state in Libya, this is indeed a step in the right direction. It is just a pity that the decision only came after the rather tragic incident leading to the death of the American ambassador.
[More]
If you cannot lower expenditures, update the taxes
Güven Sak, PhD
28 September 2012
The only thing that has changed, if you ask me, is that now we are calling price increases introduced to improve indirect tax revenues “updates.” To which part of the world does Turkey belong? To the First World in terms of its economy, and the Third World in terms of its tax system. If indirect taxes constitute 70 percent of the total tax revenues, then we are dealing with a Third World country. Please tell me what has changed in terms of fiscal policy in Turkey. The only thing that has changed, if you ask me, is that now we are calling price increases introduced to improve indirect tax revenues “updates.” I really love this. I feel like I have stepped into an Orwellian world. Like, we say the “Ministry of Justice” when there is no justice at all!
[More]
A fake justice system cannot build a financial center in Istanbul
Güven Sak, PhD
25 September 2012
Turkey’s justice system is not functioning properly. It is not necessary to be a defendant or a relative of one to reach this conclusion Turkey’s justice system is not functioning properly. It is not necessary to be a defendant or a relative of one to reach this conclusion. Turkey’s justice system has never functioned properly; neither in the past nor today. The difference is that, today, Turkey is making pretentions to establish an Istanbul International Finance Center. A country that has a fake justice system cannot create an international financial center. This is what the verdict in the Sledgehammer trials made me think. If the government is serious about the Istanbul International Finance Center protect, it should prove that it is with a comprehensive judicial reform project. Is that
[More]
