Turkey is talent-deprived…
Ozan Acar
09 October 2013
First a note: “Creativity” is the unearthing valuable ideas, “creative” is an individual who has such ideas, and “creative country” is a country that is conducive to the flourishing of creative people.
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What do basic sciences imply for Turkey’s 2023 targets?
Ozan Acar
07 January 2013
As Turkey retires from basic sciences, it becomes more difficult to achieve the 2023 targets. The results of the national university placement examinations lately have been pointing at a decreasing interest in physics, chemistry and mathematics programs of universities. From this point of view, it seems that it will not be as simple as expected to overcome the mediocrity of Turkey’s production structure.
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The powerful Turkey of the future and children in poverty
Ozan Acar
17 November 2012
Turkey has a demographic opportunity window that has been enjoyed by only a few countries. The number of primary-school age children in the country is higher than the entire population of many European countries. Yet, current trends suggest that Turkey’s population will age rapidly in the period ahead. The only way to prevent the ageing of the population is to increase fertility rates. With this perspective, the argument that the fertility rate must be increased from 2 to 3 children per family makes sense. This doubtless is a mathematical fact.
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Turks love credit cards but hate saving
Ozan Acar
28 April 2012
Why do people save? So that they can consume more in the future. The day to go on a diet is always tomorrow, but we would never think of postponing a good plate of baklava. I guess this is in our nature as humans. Our emotional intelligence (the limbic system of our brain) makes it difficult for us to oppose the temptation of immediate consumption and resists the idea of saving[1]. Looking at the consumption and saving propensities in Turkey, I could not help but wonder whether the limbic system is obstructing things a little bit more for Turks. A new database by the World Bank supports this notion.
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Turkey is not as good as MIT!
Ozan Acar
29 February 2012
The Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program carried out in February at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted discussions on the role of local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in the birth of companies that change the world [1].
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High-quality governance requires a new constitution
Ozan Acar
16 December 2011
The spirit of the current 1982 Constitution is felt in many areas from what we learned in primary school to the terms and conditions of qualifying for retirement. The hierarchy of norms states that the laws, regulations and legislations citizens have to oblige throughout their social and economic relations shall not contradict with constitution. Rules might change, but constitutionality is an invariable condition. Therefore, it is the constitution that draws the line for the reforms regarding institutional infrastructure of Turkey.
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How can Turkey improve the value added in the construction sector?
Ozan Acar
04 October 2011
Construction services sector is among the most global sectors in Turkey. Construction companies that have been enhancing their capital structure and skills since the 1950s via public investment projects started to have a voice throughout the world along with the efforts to liberalize trade and capital accounts of the Turkish economy. Today, Turkish construction companies have a significant presence over a vast area from Argentina to Indonesia, South Africa, and Russia. Construction projects financed by the World Bank over the last decade were also predominantly undertaken by the same Turkish companies. The number of Turkish companies on the top 225 international constructors list prepared by the Engineering News Record (ENR) increased from 8 in 2003 to 31 in 2011. Turkey left behind the US
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Turkey’s sovereign rating increased relatively
Ozan Acar
23 August 2011
The impact of the global crisis was more limited on developing countries than rich countries at the core. However, the sovereign rating of developing counties is still below that of developed countries in debt crisis. Causes of this was addressed in a policy note titled "Sovereign rating cannot be upgraded without structural reforms" published on TEPAV website in January 2011[1]. The mentioned study associated the stand-still in Turkey's sovereign rating with the negative outlook of the current account deficit and budget deficit that has the potential to affect fiscal performance through various channels, and of the real exchange rate and growth volatility. In parallel with our expectations, Turkey's sovereign rating hasn't increased after January 2011 in absolute terms, though it has impr
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