Sunday, December 30, 2018

Economic and social policies in Turkey

My friend visited Turkey recently and came back with the following observations.

The tour guide told him that the current president, Erdogan, is quite popular with the people. He has reduced the retirement age for citizens and gave them a modest pension.

This has allowed young people to take over the jobs from the retired older people. it helped to reduce youth unemployment.

My friend wondered how Turkey could afford this measure. Does it lead to a loss of competitiveness? Is their currency strong?

I have not followed the economic and govt policies in Turkey. Here are my views:

a) It make sense for older people to retire and the jobs to be done by younger people. It should lead to greater productivity.

b) If the older people can live on the modest pension, they should be happier with their spare time. Maybe they can look after the family and grand children.

c) Most important, is Turkey able to keep the cost of living low?

Turkey face the problem of the civil war in Syria, which must affect their economy negatively. They also suffered from the trade sanctions imposed by America. So, they economic problems and weak currency could be due to other factors, rather than their social policies.

Any views from people who knows the situation in Turkey?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Look at the map and you will know why.

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