The Tahrir Square looked much smaller this time
Güven Sak, PhD
12 June 2012
We all have learned the hard way that the number of Tahrir Square residents was quite small compared to Egypt's of 82 million. Last night I passed by Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, the epicenter of the Revolution of January 25th that overthrew Hosni Mobarak. However, the Square that had looked gigantic on television and that had intoxicated me in 2011 looked very small this time. We all have learned the hard way that the number of people in Tahrir Square was quite small compared to Egypt's overall population of 82 million.
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How to define a more Southern G-20 agenda
Güven Sak, PhD
09 June 2012
The G-20’s focus on current events like the global economic crisis is understandable. That should not however, come at the expense of neglecting structural issues. Another G-20 Summit is approaching in mid-June this year in Los Cabos, Mexico. The G-20 is a forum in which the leaders of major economies essentially compare notes. It is composed of the 20 largest economies of the world, with the exception of Switzerland, the Netherlands and Spain (the last two are coming with the EU delegation anyways).
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Can Turkey fly via entrepreneurship?
Güven Sak, PhD
08 June 2012
Given that Turkey performs poorly on the human development index, there is still great progress to be made. The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and the US Department of State have been carrying out a joint Global Entrepreneurship Program in Turkey. The objective of the Program is to familiarize Turkish entrepreneurs with their peers in the region as well as in America so they can learn from and imitate each other. We are discussing how the success attained in one part of the globe can be transferred to other regions. Last month, in the context of the Program a delegation of foreign investors visited Turkey. During the visit, a business plan competition was carried out with the participation of more than thirty entrepreneurs selected from among the best of the best proje
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The ban on abortion increases crime rate
Güven Sak, PhD
05 June 2012
What came as a surprise was that the legalization of abortion in the US with the decision of the Supreme Court in 1973 played a considerable role in the drop in crime rates in the US during the 1990s.
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The Zero Problems policy is alive and kicking
Güven Sak, PhD
02 June 2012
Until the day the economic awakening starts to keep pace with the political awakening, Turkey needs a zero problems framework. Some say that the zero problems policy died with the Arab Awakening. They are dead wrong. Think about the way Turkey approaches its neighborhood. Parameters may change, but as long as regional economic integration is important both for Turkey and other regional countries, the policy framework will still be needed. Only when an economic awakening accompanies the political awakening, and people form bonds independent of their governments, will the policy fade away.
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Indecisive Europe is causing Switzerland to lose its faith
Güven Sak, PhD
01 June 2012
The Swiss are disturbed by Europe’s efforts to deal with the crisis via liquidity injections. Go figure: Switzerland is becoming just like China! No, not because the country has degraded to the statism of the 1930s in all aspects of social life from health to the freedom of the press and expression. They also do not have a minister of health who would dare say, “If necessary, we will take children from their families and raise them ourselves as the state.” And the sad part is, no one says in response, “Take a look at the orphanages, first. They are full of good citizens and they are looking for new ones, right?” Meanwhile, Switzerland is considering imposing capital controls as the world is shaken by the risk of a new Eurozone crisis. Taking it one step beyond, they already have set up a t
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Will the adjustment cost for the TCC go beyond 6 billion?
Güven Sak, PhD
29 May 2012
Turkey increases the public disclosure burden on small enterprises while the U.S. does the opposite. The lower the cost of adjustment to a law is, the more smoothly that law can be implemented. As the adjustment cost rises, so does the resistance to the law. I have been reading about the recent debates on the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) from a cost-benefit perspective. Yes, the TCC is good, but how do its benefits compare with its cost? Which types of companies are to bear heavier burdens? Is the current climate conducive to adjustment?
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Why can’t Turks speak English yet?
Güven Sak, PhD
26 May 2012
Diplomats are good at making comparisons to the past, especially if they are posted to the same place multiple times. I was recently talking to a foreign diplomat in Ankara who was also here about two decades ago. He spoke about the progress Turkey has made since his first time here -- how Ankara looks more urbane now and how its people are more confident. “But there is one thing that has not changed” he added, at the end of his string of praise: “Turks still can’t speak English. There were very few who could back then and it seems their number hasn’t grown.” So the question looms: Why can’t we learn English? And by English I don’t mean speaking with a high degree of proficiency; this is not Henry Higgins’ tirade in My Fair Lady. I’m talking about plain communication in English. W
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What is the deal with the number 49?
Güven Sak, PhD
25 May 2012
Some companies in France are making keen efforts not to employ one more person to increase the number of employees to 50. According to a recent story in Bloomberg Businessweek, France has 2.4 times as many companies with 49 employees as with 50 employees. Some part of these makes keen efforts not to employ one more person to increase the number of employees to 50. Why? Evidently due to the structuring of a series of labor market regulations. According to the labor code, a company that has at least 50 employees has to create worker councils to which the company has to give an account of management issues. In France, the number 49 had a special meaning because of the labor code. Here is what I thought having read this story: Have you ever checked the distribution of Turkey’s companies by the
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The institutionalization of sycophancy
Güven Sak, PhD
24 May 2012
Lately, I have become convinced that it would be useful to form the legislation and execution via separate elections. I was born in the first half of the 1960s. Süleyman Demirel had become the prime minister in 1965 and was always the only prime minister for me. This was not the case for my peers born in the US. They first had President Johnson. Then came Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, James Carter, Ronald Reagan, the first George Bush and Bill Clinton. When Demirel first assumed office, Harold Wilson was the prime minister of the UK. After him, the office was taken by Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair. In Turkey, however, Demirel was either prime minister or president for the thirty-five years between 1965 and 2000. So he is the first one to come to
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