We need smart projects, not crazy ones
Güven Sak, PhD
06 March 2012
Revision brings good. Today’s world requires smart projects, not crazy ones. We have a great deal to lose now. The old project involving Sinop has risen from the grave once again. According to yesterday’s news, the Sinop Governorate is planning to turn Boztepe Cape into an island. You might wonder what the purpose is. As far as I understand, they want to connect the island to the mainland with a bridge. You might ask “Why would you separate it from the mainland if you are going to reconnect it?” Let me not ask that question. Instead I will argue, “The most difficult task for Turkey is to decide its priorities.” Above was Sinop’s unplanned “crazy” project. I think, the plan to increase the compulsory education to twelve years was also a crazy project. I do not believe that the project was a
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This still is not an education reform bill.
Güven Sak, PhD
02 March 2012
Turkey needs to find structural solutions to structural problems and to give up empty talk. This week, it snowed more than ever in Ankara. On Tuesday, when the heavy snow started, I was at the Turkish National Assembly (TNA). The Subcommittee for Education and Culture was listening to the opinions of civil society organizations on the Bill on Amending the Primary Education Law and Certain Other Laws. Actually, there were two new bills. Some articles in the first one, which proposed a controversial distance education or homeschooling scheme after the first four years of basic education, were later omitted as they gave way to heated debates. So, girls were saved from seclusion. A mistake was corrected. In my opinion, the parliament were forced to change the bill as the telephone lines of all
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What does Israel have that Turkey does not?
Güven Sak, PhD
28 February 2012
In order to build the innovation debates in Turkey upon a concrete context, we must try to understand what Israel has that Turkey does not. We have been discussing innovations in Turkey for a long time. We stress that innovations are important and that innovativeness must be cultivated. But in fact, we talk nonsense. As the discussions on innovation turned out to be hollow, those on entrepreneurship also did. This is what I think, at least. Today, let me try to build the discussion on a solid framework, to help you envision the issue. Lately, I have been thinking that it is important to compare the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in terms of innovation performance. In order to build the innovation debates in Turkey upon a concrete foundation, we must try to
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This is not it
Güven Sak, PhD
25 February 2012
The new education reform bill is not in line with the objective function of this government. An education reform bill is in Parliament. Or perhaps I should say the “so-called” education reform bill, as it has been termed in the jargon of this lovely country. It is not that the new bill fails to change the system. On the contrary, it would mean radical overhaul. The problem is that this new bill could actually incapacitate Turkey’s desultory education system further. Even the sparse achievements of the existing system could be lost. This would be done under the guise of providing choice to parents. The first four years of education would still be compulsory, but children would get to stay at home for the second four years. Options can have harmful consequences, say experts. The ER
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Turkey is not becoming like China
Güven Sak, PhD
24 February 2012
Fortunately, we have corrected this acute problem with the intervention of deputy prime minister Ali Babacan. Let me stress one point as Xi Jinping, leader-to-be of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is in Turkey: Turkey is not becoming like China. Turkey is not approaching the statism of the 1930s as systematically as China. In my commentary titled “Turkey is Becoming Just like China,” published on February 3, I drew your attention to the drafted amendment to the Law of Capital Markets Board (CMB) and argued that the arrangement about independent board members of the Board under the title of principles for corporate management eventually would put corporations under the tutelage of the central government. But fortunately, we have corrected this acute problem with the intervention of dep
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It is poor children who become paint-thinner addicts
Güven Sak, PhD
21 February 2012
One out of every four children in Turkey lives in a poor household. The OECD average for child poverty is 12.6 percent. According to OECD figures, Turkey is among the countries where child poverty is the highest. Prime minister Erdoğan recently jumped on the opposition parties, saying, “Do you want the youth to become thinner addicts?” I personally do not. I know Mr. Erdoğan does not, either. But the figures are clear: It is poor children who become paint-thinner addicts. They live on the streets. During the last decade, as OECD figures suggest, child poverty has increased in Turkey. Today, let me tell you what I understand from these figures. What we need is to devise policies on the basis of these figures, not to talk through our hats like we are competing on secondary school debate team
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Number one in the world
Güven Sak, PhD
18 February 2012
The global crisis has led to a relative saving surplus in Europe and the United States that is sustaining the unsustainable. There is no need to deny it. As Turks we like to be on top of charts. What kind of chart doesn’t really matter - Turkey is number one, and that’s what counts. So here is the good news: we are number one in the share of current account deficit to the GDP. There is no need for in depth research, just pick up a copy of the Economist and take a look at the economic and financial indicators section. It’s right there.This February, the Central Bank announced its latest figures for the current account deficit. The year-on-year increase in the deficit was about 65 percent. The figure now has reached an all time high if you consider the Republican era as a whole. So he
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How was Greece?
Güven Sak, PhD
17 February 2012
Politicians are abundant in Greece, but the lack of a statesman is obvious. The Greek people are aware of this, indeed. Last Monday I was in Athens. It was only twenty-four hours after the Greek parliament had approved the austerity package. I had seen online the photos of Starbucks aflame the day before, right before I was going to bed in Brussels. The day after, however, Athens in the dark was tranquil. The Acropolis was as gorgeous as always. On the Athens-Pireas road, in the Plaka, there was no chaos. Athens is too big to turn into a bedlam with a few demonstrations. Lately, I have been reading some articles on how Greece has been ruined within the European Union (EU). Today, let me write my impressions about Greece briefly and touch upon how Greece benefits from being a member of the
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Life is hard for Papademos
Güven Sak, PhD
14 February 2012
These days I would not want to be in the shoes of Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos, and I laud Ecevit. These days, I would not want to be in shoes of Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos. You might ask why. The Greek parliament has adopted the austerity package despite demonstrations throughout the country. The prime minister will collect EUR 130 billion this week. Things have started to get back on track. Still, I would not want to be in his shoes. Let me tell you why. Today, I will note three main challenges I have observed.
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First world economy, third world budget
Güven Sak, PhD
11 February 2012
No matter how modern the Turkish economy has become in the last three decades, the structure of the Turkish public budget has not changed. After three patients died of HIV-infected blood last week, the chief of Red Crescent in Turkey took a hands-off attitude. “We are distributing what we are getting from society” he said “it is not us, it is society.” This totally neutral and outrageous job description reminds me the accepted motto of our Ministry of Finance. Let me explain why.
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