61–70 of 207 posts
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Heh. I wasn't aware religious beliefs include monetary policies. I just hope they don't start another war out of desperation.
Many religions have laws about interest and usury. Catholics were unable to lend with interest between each other for a very long time. I suppose it's not a stretch to say if a person can't charge interest the government shouldn't be doing it either.
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That country is Russian, right? Or Saudi Arabia? I am not very familiar with Syria situation. Purely a honest question.
The Syrian conflict, though deliberately obfuscated, was probably primarily a conflict between Russia-backed Iran and US-backed Saudi Arabia. Wahabism is an arm of the latter.
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Saudi Arabia as the direct source of Wahhabis, with the US funding and arming them. Russia has been supporting the secular Syrian government.
I fail to see how the US is funding the Saudis. Arming, maybe. Funding? Not so much.
> The one thing that the central bank is not doing is raising interest rates. This is at the heart of the entire crisis. Okay am I missing something here? Europe has negative rates. The US has negative rates. But when Turkey lowers rates from 19% (!!?!!) to 14% it creates a “crisis”?
there is a "natural" interest rate which is roughly what a lender would expect to earn when lending to a reputable borrower. The Federal Reserve/ECB may lend at a slightly lower/higher rate than this natural rate - but going far away from it leads to a crisis as the money supply becomes distorted. There is a big difference between lending at 0% when "natural" interest is .25% and lending at 14% when natural interest…
In the US, inflation is nearly at 7%, while savings accounts yield around 0.05%. Doesn't that mean Americans are discouraged from keeping money in savings accounts about the same amount as Turks are?
Erdoğan claims that lowering interest rates to zero or near zero is more in line with Islamic principles, which may be true (according to interpretation of Islamic principles, I assume). This is a bold move that reinforces what was already suspected: he is continuing to solidify his power by appealing to Islamic sympathies. During the recent coup calls to resist the belligerents were broadcast over mosque loudspeaker…
Syria was a prosperous and deeply secular country, with many cultural sites dating back to the ancient world. At least it was until imported wahabbi terrorists from you know where started to split the country up, turning parts of it into a Islamic State caliphate. Today, Syria is being plundered by the same countries that helped the terrorists sell the stolen oil. We all know which country smuggled truckloads worth o…
I looked up the core values of Turkey. And their debt to gdp ratio is 40%. Neighboring Greece is 200%. The Turkish economy was the second fastest growing economy last year in the G20 and is on pace to be the one of the fastest growing economies this year. Turkey has had record exports and been one of the most successful in tourism both last year and this year helping the current account deficit. Yet bankrupt Greece c…
is this unexpected ? erdogan literally buys weapons from russia as a nato member, allies with putin at every occassion and disregards any civilized values. he'd like to squeeze minorities as he wants, oppress the opposition as he wants and ally with whoever he wants. at that point, people might not want to cooperate with you, a bit of diplomacy eh ?
Erdoğan claims that lowering interest rates to zero or near zero is more in line with Islamic principles, which may be true (according to interpretation of Islamic principles, I assume). This is a bold move that reinforces what was already suspected: he is continuing to solidify his power by appealing to Islamic sympathies. During the recent coup calls to resist the belligerents were broadcast over mosque loudspeaker…
Erdoğan is a Ottoman and not an Islamic leader. He is using Islam to reach his goals but he is not married to it. He'll move away from Islam as soon as it no longer serves his purposes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
is this unexpected ? erdogan literally buys weapons from russia as a nato member, allies with putin at every occassion and disregards any civilized values. he'd like to squeeze minorities as he wants, oppress the opposition as he wants and ally with whoever he wants. at that point, people might not want to cooperate with you, a bit of diplomacy eh ?
So, he is acting like a leader who puts his country first? How is that bad? If US doesn't want to sell weapons to Turkey, its NATO ally, is Turkey supposed to give up and stay defenceless against terrorists that attack its borders?
America is happy to sell to Turkey. Turkey wants to dual source. The U.S., reasonably, doesn’t want its latest stealth tech painted by Russian radars phoning home. Sometimes playing the middle ground helps. Sometimes it gets you a raw deal. In Turkey’s case, the people are losing.
Erdoğan claims that lowering interest rates to zero or near zero is more in line with Islamic principles, which may be true (according to interpretation of Islamic principles, I assume). This is a bold move that reinforces what was already suspected: he is continuing to solidify his power by appealing to Islamic sympathies. During the recent coup calls to resist the belligerents were broadcast over mosque loudspeaker…
It has nothing to do with religious beliefs, its all about gathering capital on his side. He is just abusing peoples' religious beliefs. Everybody knows the new savings scheme he introduced is essentially increasing interest rates. Contrary to popular belief, I do not think that Erdogan will continue to mold Turkey's future. So far Turkey always had 40-50% opposition which could not unit, but now they are all united…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
there is a "natural" interest rate which is roughly what a lender would expect to earn when lending to a reputable borrower. The Federal Reserve/ECB may lend at a slightly lower/higher rate than this natural rate - but going far away from it leads to a crisis as the money supply becomes distorted. There is a big difference between lending at 0% when "natural" interest is .25% and lending at 14% when natural interest…
> Lending at 14% when [...] inflation is 18% In the US, inflation is nearly at 7%, while savings accounts yield around 0.05%. Doesn't that mean Americans are discouraged from keeping money in savings accounts about the same amount as Turks are?
If you believe American inflation will remain there, yes. Few do. (Also, the Fed is tightening.)