Turkey and the IMF: Macroeconomic Policy, Patterns of Growth and Persistent Fragilities By Independent Social Scientists’ Alliance of Turkey Publisher: TWN (ISBN: 983-2729-54-8) Year: 2006   No. of pages: 100 PRICE US$11.00 for First World countries US$9.00 for Third World countries RM10.00 for Malaysia Prices are inclusive of postage costs by airmail.

About the Book

The Independent Social Scientists’ Alliance was formed by a group of academicians and researchers in November 2000. The main aim of the Alliance is to provide academic resistance to counter the neo-liberal assault on Turkey’s economic and political independence and social welfare.

As imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the international financial institutions, the conditionalities of neo-liberal globalization aim at redesigning Turkey’s role in the international division of labour, with the explicit objective of turning its national economy into a free-market bonanza of cheap imports, a reserve army of cheap labour, and an informalised, dualistic industry with a backward technology base.

It is the main objective of the Alliance to provide research, training and scientific data to support the labouring masses in their struggle against the hegemony of capital and neo-liberal imperialism. This book is one of the major contributions of the Alliance towards that goal.

Contents

Chapter                                                                                 Page

NOTE                                                                                    

FOREWORD by Ajit Singh                                                        

FOREWORD by Lance Taylor                                                

1      INTRODUCTION                                                          

2      TURKEY IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR                    

        World Division of Labour and Turkey                                              

        Turkey in Pre-accession Negotiations with the EU              

3      THE TURKISH ECONOMY UNDER THE AKP GOVERNMENT:

        MACROECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FRAGILITIES                     

        General Observations                                                       

        Economic Data for 2004                                                  

        Sources of Growth                                                            

        Fixed Capital Investments                                                   

        Jobless Growth                                                                             

        Trends in Wage-Productivity Relationship                                        

        Turkey Keeps Offering High Arbitrage Returns to International Financial Markets         

        Current Account Deficit Gives Alarming Signs                   

        Growth Process Made Dependent on International Finance Capital                              

        Autonomy of the Central Bank and Inflation Targeting                       

        Dynamics of Public Debt                                                   

        Consolidated Budget 2004                                                

4      THE TRUE CHARACTER OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES      

        Reform in Public Administration                                        

        Programme for Transformation in the Health Sector                          

        2004: Year of New Projects in the Health Sector                               

        Public Health Problems Turkey is Facing as This Transformation is Imposed   

5      CONCLUSION: ON THE NATURE OF THE IMF PROGRAMME  

ANNEX                                                                                  

        Economic Developments in the US, the Dominant Power in World Capitalism  

POSTSCRIPT

        The Turkish Macroeconomy in 2005                                 

ENDNOTES