Why should the EU play a role in Turkey?
Güven Sak, PhD
19 May 2012
The EU would have a unique role in completing Turkey’s transformation process. The EU was once the major driving force of Turkey’s transformation process. That was a good blueprint for structural change. The EU was both an agent of change and our role model at the same time. Few people in Turkey still see it that way. One look at the Eurobarometer polls shows just how much the old continent has lost its allure. The image of the EU as a whole has been declining steadily in the eyes of Turks. Of course, the Europeans’ lack of confidence lately has not been helping.
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Why has Turkey not been able to create a Hyundai?
Güven Sak, PhD
15 May 2012
We are designing incentive systems so that a few non-professionals can find jobs. They are designing incentive systems to create world champions. Another question left from my visit to Seoul was “Why has Turkey not been able to create a Hyundai?” Some of you might say, “We are fed up with your memories of the two-day Seoul trip!” And you are right. But what can I do? I was really impressed.
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Is the presidency a priority?
Güven Sak, PhD
12 May 2012
Turkey needs a debate on the structure of its executive branch: the sooner the better. With or without Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the discussion about the power of the presidency is among Turkey’s priorities. Let me tell you why.
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Turkey is different from Asia in a negative way
Güven Sak, PhD
11 May 2012
Estimates suggest that Turkey will be the only country in the Asia-Pacific region where growth will be halved and inflation will increase by 50 percent. You all know that we are angry with Standard and Poor’s (S&P) lately. First, out prime minister, who is from the Black Sea region said, “I do not know the S&P.” Like in an anecdote from the Black Sea region: Temel lent Dursun some money and never got it back. He reminded Dursun of his debt, first implicitly and then explicitly, but Dursun did not seem to care. Having run out of patience, Temel sued Dursun. It appears that back then the court system was not like it is today. Otherwise, Temel would not have gone to court as it is the best way to guarantee that you will not get your money back. Anyway, in the courtroom, the judge aske
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How to move from destruction to construction?
Güven Sak, PhD
08 May 2012
You need a small team and independent action for destruction. For construction, however, these are not enough. Paul Krugman’s new book End This Depression Now has been on the shelves for a week now. And the latest book of Osman Ulagay, Türkiye Kime Kalacak – To Whom will Turkey be left?, was released two weeks ago. I downloaded the first one on my Kindle, bought the second one, and read both of them last weekend. Both are interested not in how we came to this point, but how we can turn things around. Krugman focuses on the way out of the 2008 crisis while Ulagay seeks to find out how the transformation process that accelerated with the Justice and Development Party taking over power in 2002 can progress to the next phase. In short, both Krugman and Ulagay are interested not in today, but i
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Greece upgraded, Turkey downgraded?
Güven Sak, PhD
05 May 2012
Turkey’s powerful record does not change the fact that its economy is now highly vulnerable to sudden shifts. Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Turkey. It has not changed the country’s credit rating, but lowered its outlook from “positive” to “stable.”
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Dani Rodrik was right again
Güven Sak, PhD
04 May 2012
The nation-state or national decision-making mechanism cannot go together with democracy and globalization. Dani Rodrik is a Turkish economist and a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a first-class researcher. He used to study industrial policies predominantly and he is the founding father of TEPAV’s work on industrial policy For a long time, he also he has been studying the dynamics of globalization. Looking at the unending economic crisis of Europe, I think Dani Rodrik is right once again. Let me tell you why.
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What the hell have they been doing there for ten hours?
Güven Sak, PhD
01 May 2012
It is of significance that the constitution-making process started with the Constitution Platform Citizens’ Assemblies, the biggest event for deliberative democracy in Turkey. If hundreds of people who do not know or resemble each other spend ten hours in a meeting hall, don’t you wonder what they are doing in there? I think you should. I am talking about the Constitution Platform Citizens’ Assembly series, the last one of which was held in Istanbul. During the Istanbul Assembly, there were almost a thousand citizens in the hall. They discussed constitutional issues all day long. I believe that the new constitution-making process started in an unaccustomed manner in Turkey. In this country, there are some things to which we are accustomed and some others we are not. The former is what we w
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Banking, but not saving
Güven Sak, PhD
28 April 2012
Turks don’t like to borrow from financial institutions, but do like the credit cards those institutions give out. They have bank accounts, but they don’t save. That’s Turks according to the recent results of the Global Financial Inclusion Index. I find the 2011 results for Turkey fascinating. I noted last week in this column that from the 1980s to 2010, domestic savings in Turkey went down from about 25% to 12%. That drastic decline requires an explanation. The question there is rather simple: “Why are Turks not saving?” Now the 2011 results of the Global Financial Inclusion Index bring us to the logical next question: Why are Turks prefer bank credit cards but not bank savings accounts?
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Does Turkey need high-speed train service between Ankara and Istanbul?
Güven Sak, PhD
27 April 2012
Steps tailored to enhance the connection between Konya and Ankara are more important than those to connect Istanbul to Ankara. Is Turkey’s transportation priority high-speed passenger transportation? This is the first question. Is Turkey’s transportation priority high-speed passenger transportation between Istanbul and Ankara? This is the second one. And the answer to both of these questions is a big no. High-speed passenger transportation is not Turkey’s transportation priority. Neither is high-speed transportation between Istanbul and Ankara. Turkey’s priority is not about passengers. It is about the rapid delivery of goods. It is to connect east to west, not to connect Istanbul to Ankara. Then, what is the purpose of the high-speed passenger train project financed by the European Union
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