Saturday 8 April 2017

Bombing of Syria

Bombing of Syria
 
Here we go again, another USA administration bombing a country.  How many countries has the USA bombed in the past quarter century?  A dozen? 
 
I am saddened to see people in Syria suffer, however, bombing is not the answer, and we should know this by now.
 
The Obama administration rightly stayed out of Syria. 
 
The fighting in Syria has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions in Syria since the beginning of the war, which I believe is at the sixth year mark.
 
The direct American involvement that began on April 7, 2017 with over 50 cruise missiles attacking has caused even further destruction in this country.  I believe this military action is a complete error by USA.  The USA constitution does not require that American forces fight in every war around the world; this one should have been sat out.  
 
The immense resources of the United States should be dedicated rather, to one single goal:
Reduce human suffering with humanitarian aid.
 
President Trump should immediately cease all direct attacks on the Syrian regime and instead help the people of this country.
 
Thank you for reading,

Ben
 
 

Saturday 1 April 2017

Turkey's Economy

Turkey’s Economy

Turkey’s economy grew at a faster pace than anticipated during the last quarter of 2016, since households boosted spending.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 3.5% in the October-to-December period, faster than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, which saw an expansion of 1.9%. 

Turkish households and the government boosted spending after July’s attempted military takeover.   Private demand picked up in the final quarter of 2016, fueled by household spending on everything from services to consumption goods.  Based on strengthening consumer sentiment, it will probably increase at similar levels this year, while public spending emerges as an even bigger driver of growth, according to William Jackson, a London-based economist at Capital Economic, "Government consumption could strengthen if fiscal policy is loosened further,” Jackson said, revising up his 2017 growth forecast to 2.5 percent from 1.8 percent previously.  He continued, “The drivers of growth are likely to shift and investment should continue to pick up from last year’s slump.”
The Turkish government adopted a series of expansionary fiscal policies to counter the slowdown, which may add as much as one percentage point to the budget deficit by year-end, according to Finance Minister Mr. Naci Agbal.  Incentives to boost employment and agricultural production, and tax breaks for the tourism industry, were among stimulus measures rolled out.  He said government measures to ease restrictions on household demand usually have an effect with some delay, meaning faster consumption growth in 2017.

It was important for Turkey not to enter a “technical recession,” Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mehmet Simsek said in a televised interview after the GDP report. The minister said “There’s a moderate recovery in growth in the first quarter of 2017.  The recovery will accelerate from the middle of the second quarter.”

We will wait and see..

Thank you for visiting,

Ben