It is good that the economic administration has left behind the denial period
Güven Sak, PhD
14 April 2009
Turkey, with almost a six-month delay, has for the first time faced the global economic crisis. Sorry, Turkey has for the first time "officially" faced the global economic crisis. We, as the people living in this country, have already faced the global crisis. We already knew that negative developments were taking place. It is not bad but good that the official "denial period" is now coming to an end. Credibility does not make you lose, it makes you win. It was anyway senseless to pretend that there is no problem here in Turkey while the global economic crisis was shaking everywhere throughout the world. The statements made by Vice Prime Minister Nazım Ekren yesterday ended the "denial period". This indicates that the first step toward the construction of public policy credibility has been
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Honorable Prime Minister of Turkey, have you ever watched “Alo Presidente”?
Güven Sak, PhD
11 April 2009
Please watch. Did you know that Hugo Chavez Frias, President of Venezuela, is also a television star in Venezuela? Yes, he is literally a television star. Since 1999, Chavez is both governing the country and hosts, directs and designs a weekly talk show. And Alo Presidente (Hello President) is the name of that show. When took over the office, President Obama immediately revised the web site of the White House and promised the public an "open government". Accordingly, the decisions made or to be made would be as transparent as possible and the comments of the public would be received. In this sense, "Alo Presidente" of President Chavez becomes "wide-open government" rather than "open government". Let us see why.
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“Masallah, you are doing very very well”
Güven Sak, PhD
09 April 2009
State Minister Mehmet Şimşek addressed to corporate sector, banking sector, households and in general all of us "masallah, you are doing very very well". I wonder what is that we miss but honorable State Minister see.
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Obama asked Turkey to dance. But, is Turkey ready?
Güven Sak, PhD
07 April 2009
Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America (USA) came to Turkey at the last stop of his Europe travel. It is possible to attach a number of meanings to this visit; however, we believe that there is a single objective: to make damage control. After the Bush administration dominated by unilateral decisions, the top priority in the US agenda is fixing the damages in the relations between allies. Therefore, damage control for Turkish-American relations was initiated with the visit of Obama to Turkey. And it started with a quite healthy offer. Let us see what is that offer.
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Why does the popularity of rightist Erdoğan go down while that of leftist Lula goes up?
Güven Sak, PhD
02 April 2009
It seems that the situation is genuinely bad. Moreover, things are not getting any better for the last five months. While rules are doing nothing bur wasting time for election campaigns, it seems that we citizens are encountering worse conditions day by day. Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) made an announcement this week and that the Turkish economy contracted in the last quarter of 2008 was officially confirmed. Figures announced by TURKSTAT say that the Turkish economy grew only by 1.1 percent. If the figures were not revised, overall growth rate for 2008 would have been 0 as the economy contracted by 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2008. Thanks to the positive revisions made in previous quarters, growth rate did not stand at 0 but jumped up to 1.1 percent. But, does it make a
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“This issue is economic!”
Güven Sak, PhD
31 March 2009
In the elections carried out last weekend, votes for the ruling party decreased by around 20 percent. You can say "The crisis did not originate in Turkey. It was transmitted from abroad to Turkey. We have no fault with this respect" as much as you want. But it does not matter. The global crisis is now the economic crisis of Turkey. Shut down businesses, workers that lost their jobs, reduced production level are all an evidence for this. The only thing the results of the elections carried out last Sunday and in particular distribution of votes for Provincial Council show is that the global crisis has currently become the economic crisis of Turkey. Of course, this will be evident only to those that are able to acknowledge. Why the ruling party lost around 20 percent of the votes will certain
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It is never too late to mend
Güven Sak, PhD
27 March 2009
For the last three days we have been talking about the negative impacts of the global crisis on Turkey and how these impacts can be limited. Actually, it is possible to say that this subject is depressing. While we were discussing on growth strategy only two years ago, the recent subject is successful management of the contractionary period. Crisis management mainly means ensuring that the economy nowadays will contract orderly. In this context, crisis management does not refer to the elimination but limitation of damage. We have two options: Either the crisis will manage us or we will manage the crisis. Former will incur more damage. This is the first point the study carried out by TEPAV reveals.
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Did you see the logo of Recovery Program?
Güven Sak, PhD
21 March 2009
Sometimes, how do you do something might be as important as that thing itself. The campaign in the US to tackle the crisis, which also involves the struggle against the crisis psychology, is an example for this. Have you seen the logo of the campaign to tackle the crisis carried out under the scope of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act"? They have established a campaign that has an institutional identity. Let us show you this campaign and its logo as a whole. Let us identify what the campaign involves and what we fail to do so that a clear picture appears in your minds. Because this issue becomes more prominent in the current period where the Turkish government has found the "correct path" and started to move in the right direction.
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“Man, is the crisis ending?”
Güven Sak, PhD
19 March 2009
No, it is not. What makes you think so? It is not even close. That the Turkish government has finally started to move in the right direction is not enough. There are still a lot of steps to take and a series of measures to be implemented. It is impossible to conclude "man, is the crisis ending?" solely relying on the rise in demand for automobiles after tax cuts. This is a flash in the pen. Nonetheless, it also involves a good message.
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Turkish government is finally moving in the right direction
Güven Sak, PhD
17 March 2009
Finally, news stating that a set of steps considering the troubled sectors will be taken has been spreading around. In fact, we do not know what is going on exactly since there is no official statement yet. However, as the items leaking of the package are considered, it seems that the denial period ended. The government now gives the impression that it is moving in the right direction. However, finally starting to move in the right direction does not necessarily mean reaching the targeted destination. The crisis is still present and it is certainly the crisis of Turkey now. What is pleasing is that the "deeply sleeping beauty" has finally waked up. At this point, this is what we must feel happy about. The crisis, has taken the attention of the Turkish government for the first time since Se
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