The End of Erdogan-onomics
Turkey's Prime Minister Loses the Battle For Cheap Credit
By Piotr Zalewski
February 9, 2014
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no fan of high interest rates. He has repeatedly argued that his country’s central bank should keep real lending rates at or near zero. (A devout Muslim, he is said to draw inspiration from Islamic doctrine, which forbids interest.) Occasionally, he has gone so far as to dispute a fundamental tenet of economics, claiming that high interest rates cause inflation. He has even pinned part of the blame for his political troubles -- including mass protests last summer and an ongoing corruption scandal this winter -- on an unholy alliance of international financiers, Western governments, and the foreign media that he has dubbed, tellingly, the “interest rate lobby.”
More:Piotr Zalewski | The End of Erdogan-onomics | Foreign Affairs