Actions and Consequences
Last week, people called for boycott of cafes and restaurants throughout the weekend. So I decided to visit some shopping malls and restaurants to see if the call was truly answered. Although they seemed a little bit calmer and less crowded than normal, I could not say know if the boycott played any part in it.
We all know how challenging it has become to live in the city. Today Turkey is experiencing a significant deterioration in pricing behaviour as a result of mass immigration even though the country depends on the economy created by these millions of foreigners who come here for temporary or permanent stay. It is a fact that landlords and business owners, who are immensely influenced by the lifestyle brought by foreigners, try to make as much profit as they possible can as if there were no tomorrow.
On the other hand, people who work hard with integrity and ethics are being crushed under serious labour, energy, supply and renting costs. And the sadder part is we can no longer tell the difference between those who make an honest living and those who take advantage of opportunities as they arise. However, it would not be possible for any of us to find a solution to problems if we approach these problems with the mindset of a bureaucrat who sees the entire business world as a bunch of opportunist and exploitative people. Therefore, the Government must properly perform its role as regulatory authority. According to recent surveys, a considerable number of people did not cast their votes in the latest local elections due to corrupt markets, dysfunctional justice and unfair government practices. And obviously, some people in the government will be blamed for all of this.
The truth is that our Government has failed to realise that their incorrect agricultural and industrial, monetary and financial, and foreign exchange policies, especially their trade policies designed to protect local producers against foreign competition by charging high import duties, has been causing cumulative inflation since 2014. Increasing taxes on essential goods and services in order to finance government spending made inflation even worse. While certain privileged business groups have been protected through exorbitant import taxes, exchange rates have been kept under control. Agriculture and animal husbandry have become very expensive, the most expensive in Europe, as farmers were made unable to handle crops and livestock due to high prices.
All of this was supposedly made to bring stability back to Turkish economy. But, the Government forgot one very important thing while doing all that work: running an economic impact analysis. More interestingly, the Opposition emerged as the victor of local elections in industrial cities, such asAdana, Adıyaman, Bursa, Gaziantep and Manisa,where the protectionist demands of certain corporations were fully met by the Government. So, the results of these recent local elections clearly tell us that people were fed up with unjust advantages and privileges granted to a handful of corporations since 2014, despite the blatant fact that it was the people who had to suffer the consequences of this protectionist practices, in the form of high inflation.
Today, the Government’s monetary and fiscal policies and obviously its foreign exchange policy as well are publicly criticised. The reasons why Turkish economy is in this terrible situation today, unquestionably are government policies that have been implemented clumsily, without much forethought, arbitrary and capricious legislative decisions, listening to interest groups instead of people, never-ending government spending, and the Central Bank’s policies, which actually remain the same even though its management has changed several times. People were expecting Turkish President to take some radical actions yet his Office still remains silent. We shall see if radical decisions will be taken this week and whether certain people will be chosen as the scapegoat for the Government’s electoral defeat.
Meanwhile, there are rumours on social media that the President Erdoğan’s visit to the United States was postponed to a later date. According to news networks, there is indeed truth to the rumours but the visit has not been officially cancelled yet.
