A Framework for Decoupling Human Need Satisfaction From Energy Use

This article focuses on the political economy of Turkey in the 1990s to illustrate the importance of analysing economic variables that intersect with the quality of political democracy. In 1989, the debt-ridden state moved to systematically and completely deregulate Turkey’s financial markets. Together with the ongoing processes of liberalizing commodity markets and integrating with global capital markets, financial liberalization was expected to achieve fiscal and monetary stability, stimulate business confidence to invest in productive sectors, produce stable growth, encourage privatization and control inflation. However, the new hegemony of the capital markets has gone hand-in-hand with deteriorating macroeconomic performance, a worsening income distribution, the discrediting of politics and its isolation from society. The authors examine several key dynamics which are helping to legitimate the neoliberal agenda of the 1990s. These include the distribution of state largesse to manipulate electoral capitalism; the rise of an informal sector in the ‘Anatolian Tigers’; promotion of the seductive attractions of the market; and an antipolitical reform populism adopted by political actors to exploit popular disillusionment with the political system.

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Politics, Society and Financial Liberalization: Turkey in the 1990s

One metaphor for assessing Turkey’s economic performance in the twentieth century may be to ask whether the glass is half full or half empty. On the one hand, Turkey has experienced far-reaching economic changes since the early 1920s. The primarily rural and agricultural economy of the early twentieth century has transformed into a mostly urban economy. Average or per capita incomes have increased more than fivefold during this period. Other indicators of standards of living have also improved significantly. Life expectancy at birth has almost doubled from under thirty-five years in the interwar era to sixtynine years. Adult literacy rates have increased from about 10 per cent to about 90 per cent (Table 10.1). On the other hand, it would be misleading to judge economic performance only in absolute terms. The twentieth century, especially its second half, was a period of rapid increases in the standards of living in most parts of the developing world, of which Turkey is still considered a part. Increases in per capita incomes in Turkey since the First World War have been close to, but slightly above, world averages and averages for the developing countries. The income per capita gap between Turkey and the high-income countries of Western Europe and North America was about the same in 2005 as it was on the eve of the First World War. Certainly, Turkey has not been one of the miracle-producing economies of the twentieth century. Moreover, its record in human development has been weaker than its record in economic growth, close to but perhaps below average for the developing world. In addition, these increases or improvements have not all been achieved at a steady pace. In fact, Turkey’s economy has been plagued by recurring political and macroeconomic instability that has led to a number of crises, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. The most severe of these, a financial crisis, occurred in 2001. That the economy managed to rebound strongly within a few years should perhaps remind us of the above metaphor.

Economic change in twentieth-century Turkey: is the glass more than half full?

and the conference participants for their comments and suggestions; and to Ebru Voyvoda for her indispensable research assistance.

Globalization, Distribution and Social Policy: Turkey, 1980-1998

Editorial: The revival of the liberal creed — the IMF and the World Bank in a globalized economy

http://yoksis.bilkent.edu.tr/doi_getpdf/articles/10.1016-0305-750X(95)00140-8.pdf

Dilemmas of structural adjustment and environmental policies under instability: Post-1980 Turkey

The economic and political crisis which Turkey faced during 1977-1980 was resolved by an orthodox stabilization program adopted early in 1980, immediately followed by conventional structural adjustment measures and the military coup realized on September of the same year. The Turkish experience with orthodox stabilization and structural adjustment incorporates a number of specificities and it will be useful to recall them briefly. First of all, the striking element of continuity in basic economic policy orientation which lasted from 1980 up till 1089 without any significant reversals should be emphasized. The personal role of Turgut Ozal as Vice Premier in charge of the economy during 1980-1982 under the military governments and Prime Minister during 1984-1991, was a determining factor in this respect. Reversals and hesitations as observed in Latin American experiences due to differences between rival monetarist schools or between populist and right wing political groupings played practically no role for almost ten years in Turkey. The political pressures which resulted in a switch back to populism in 1989 —a theme to be investigated in this paper— marked, in our view, a drastic shift away from the policy model adopted in 1980.

Distributional Dynamics in Turkey under “Structural Adjustment” of the 1980s 1

The country report provides the data and information on the changes in the financial system in Turkey since 1980. The report is based on the analysis of data on financial sector and the relevant literature. After explaining the historical and political developments since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, the report provides an overview of developments within financial sector and its impact upon the non- financial sector. It deals in detail with the period after the capital account liberalisation of 1989 and discusses the macroeconomic context in the last two decades as well as the regulatory framework for the financial sector. The relations between the financial sector and non-financial sector, the changes in the sources of funds for the real sector, the increased penetration of financial services in everyday lives of people and the increasing household indebtedness are discussed with regards to the financialisation of Turkish economy. The report concludes by giving brief information on recent responses to the 2008-9 international financial crisis

Comparative Perspective on Financial System in the EU, Country Report on Turkey

It is the aim of these notes to make a balance sheet of the development problems which Turkey is currently facing and to assess medium-term growth prospects for the Turkish economy. Such a balance sheet necessitates a retrospective look into the recent past, in which a distinction should be made between the pre- and post-1980 periods since it was early in 1980 that a major reorientation of economic policies into an orthodox “structural adjustment” line took place. Hence we investigate roughly two seven year periods covering 1973-79 and 1980—86 (with more emphasis on the second period), being fully aware that with respect to certain variables the year 1980 may not always serve as a dividing line.

Notes on the Current Development Problems and Growth Prospects of the Turkish Economy

Turkiye Istatistik Kurumu (TUIK), yeni ulusal gelir hesaplama sonuclarini ve aciklamalarini 2016 Aralik ortasinda yayimlamistir. TUIK, OECD’nin talebi uzerine ve gecikmeli olarak bu calismayi yapmis ve Birlesmis Milletler’in SNA-2008 ve Avrupa Birligi’nin ESA-2010 cercevelerine uygun veriler elde etmeyi amaclamistir. Yeni ulusal gelir serilerinde, gelir duzeyi yaninda, reel gelirin buyume hizlarinda onemli artislar, gelirin ve hasilanin sektorel dagiliminda koklu degisiklikler gorulmustur. Bu yazinin amaci, yeni ulusal gelir hesaplamalarinda, iktisat degerlendirmelerini ve politikalarini da yanlis yonlendirebilecek, eksiklere ve yetersizliklere vurgu yapmaktir. Ornegin, eski serilerle yapilan incelemeler, Turkiye ekonomisinin yuksek cari aciklarin dis finansmani ile desteklenen “tuketim itisli” bir buyume patikasi izledigini ima etmekteydi. Oysa, yeni seriler, “yatirim itisli” ve insaat agirlikli bir buyume patikasini ima etmektedir. Boylelikle, onceki analizler gecersiz hale gelmistir. Yatirimlardaki buyuk artis, hanehalki ve sirket tasarruf oranlarinda da carpici yukselisler getirmistir. Bunlar, Turkiye ekonomisinde onemli bir ic tasarruf sorununun olmadigi sonucuna goturmustur. Ima edilen bu buyume, yatirim ve tasarruf sonuclari tartismalidir.

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Oktar Türel

Papers

Dilemmas of structural adjustment and environmental policies under instability: Post-1980 Turkey

Distributional Dynamics in Turkey under “Structural Adjustment” of the 1980s 1

Comparative Perspective on Financial System in the EU, Country Report on Turkey

Notes on the Current Development Problems and Growth Prospects of the Turkish Economy

Yeni Ulusal Gelir Serileri Üzerine Gözlem ve Değerlendirmeler