Minimum wage, national development, and the production economy

The government has given a negative response to the call for an interim raise in the minimum wage made by the country's three major trade union confederations (TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ, DİSK). Considering that it is impossible to live on the minimum wage, that the minimum wage has become the standard wage, and that labor's share of the national income has been steadily declining for years, the suffering of the working class will not end for many years to come.  

In a Turkey caught in a spiral of high exchange rates, high interest rates, high inflation, high unemployment, high external debt, a high foreign trade deficit, and a high budget deficit, how can the 16 million retirees and the 32 million workers, most of whom have to make ends meet with the minimum wage or a salary slightly above it, be happy? They cannot, of course. 

Turkey's capacity for investment, production, exports, and employment is clear. Budgetary resources are limited. The government's class-based preferences and economic policy priorities are obvious. The main opposition is one notch to the left of the government, and that is all. Therefore, it is not right to have excessive expectations. Because on its agenda and among its priorities, there is no deep-rooted, comprehensive public-mindedness, populism, statism, or planning. There is no nationalization. There is no plan to establish new-generation State Economic Enterprises (KİT). It does not even claim to have such an agenda. It is unrealistic to expect these from a social democratic party, especially one that has shifted far to the right, surrendered to liberal clichés, become intertwined with identity politics, and has high loyalty to NATO and the EU.  

For years, there have been no strong ideological debates or studies on political economy, neither across our country nor within our political parties. That is why, since the January 24 (1980) decisions, different parties that have come to power have always implemented the same economic program without encountering strong social or political opposition.  

For example, planning is not on the agenda of any of them. Yet, when one looks at developed countries, industrialized societies, and prosperous nations, it is seen that all of them, including those that are fiercely capitalist, are at peace with planning. It is seen that they identify their priorities accurately. It is seen that they use their resources efficiently and mobilize their capabilities for the right tasks. It is seen that they avoid unnecessary, useless, and idle investments. 

For instance, no country can achieve the same success in every sector or every branch of industry. It cannot be ambitious in all sectors. There are inevitably sectors in which they are the best and others in which they are weaker. They make their plans accordingly. They use their resources in light of these realities. They organize their education, science, technology, and industrial policies, as well as their R&D strategies, accordingly. They make plans province by province, region by region, and sector by sector. They plan what to produce, where, how, and at what cost, how to present it to the domestic market, and how to export it to foreign markets. Accordingly, they provide incentives on a sectoral basis, offer tax breaks, provide cheap energy, allocate land for free or at a low cost, and provide purchasing guarantees. They protect their producers, industrialists, workers, and farmers. They look after their domestic market. 

Japan has done this, and so has Germany. The Netherlands has done this, and so has France. China has done this, and so has South Korea. When looking at these countries, it is clear which ones have dominant sectors, locomotive sectors, and leading sectors that compete with the world. This is the case even in the United States, the country where capitalism is most developed. So much so that even cities are structured accordingly. For example, Detroit (the capital of the state of Michigan, famous for its basketball team, the Detroit Pistons) is known as one of the world's largest automobile production centers. The headquarters of General Motors, known briefly as GM, Ford, and Chrysler, are in this city. The city, along with its surroundings, is organized accordingly, from education to sub-industry. 

While it was expected that a state like Turkey—which turned toward planned and holistic development and planned industrialization with the Republic, established the State Planning Organization (DPT) in 1960, and achieved great things thanks to it—would plan every area from industry to agriculture, from urbanization to population, and from education to health, the exact opposite was done, and the DPT was closed in 2011.   

However, there are no easy solutions in the economy. Planning is mandatory for investment, production, employment, and exports. A planned economy, in addition to being one of the fundamental conditions of populism and statism, is also the key to rapid industrialization under public leadership, stable growth, sustainable development, and holistic progress.