Turkey’s economic boom

Six years ago, Turkey had inflation of nearly 90%, and growth was a meager 2 or 3% a year and the idea that Turkey could ever join the EU was absurd. The IMF was called in to bail the country out. This analyst says that IMF intervention was a miracle and prompted a turn around. The country has also seen a quadrupling of per capita income and political stability, a near miracle in the country. The AK Party has been in power since 2002 and claims credit for the success. This commentator says AK Party is overlooked but has been crucial. This has been great for business but not good for the average middle class Turkish citizen. This coffee shop owner and gun shop owner both say their business has been worse since 2002. the gun shop owner says his business sells when people have money for hobbies and his business has been down. The ruling AK Party calls these complaints disingenuous. This professor says officially the economy is better under the AK Party but that official stats don’t tell the whole story and the income inequality is rising and in real terms income is declining. But other say they should consider that the IMF and EU are giving Turkey high marks lately. But more recent stats show that Turkey consumer confidence is at an all time low and the jobless rate is up from a year ago.