NBER Reporter: Fall 2001
The seventh in a series of country-specific meetings of the NBER Project on Economic and Financial Crises in Emerging Market Countries, directed by NBER President Martin Feldstein and Research Associate Jeffrey A. Frankel, both of Harvard University, took place in Cambridge on July 18. This gathering focused on Turkey and was organized by Frankel and Dani Rodrik, NBER and Harvard University. Like earlier NBER meetings on Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia, this occasion brought together academics, individuals from the country, international bankers, and government officials in the hopes of developing an in-depth understanding of Turkey's economic situation.
The day-long meeting was divided into four sessions. In Session 1, a panel consisting of Rusdu Saraceglu, former head of Turkey's central bank, Edwin Truman, Institute for International Economics and formerly of the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S.Treasury, Erik Nielsen of Goldman Sachs, and Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO, described the exchange rate situation in Turkey prior to 1999.
In Session 2, the experts discussed Turkey's stabilization and the exchange rate regime. The panelists were: Mahfi Egilmez, former undersecretary of Turkey's Treasury; Caroline Atkinson, Council on Foreign Relations, formerly of the U.S.Treasury; Atish Ghosh, International Monetary Fund (IMF); George Hoguet, State Street Global Advisers; and Kasper Bartholdy, Credit Suisse First Boston.
In Session 3, panelists Selcuk Demiralp, former undersecretary of Turkey's Treasury, Nouriel Roubini, NBER and New York University, formerly of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and the U.S. Treasury, Carlo Cottarelli, IMF, and Joyce Chang, Chase Manhattan Bank, considered Turkey's banking problems and the crisis in the fall of 2000.
In the fourth session, Gazi Ercel, fomer head of Turkey's central bank, Steve Radelet, U.S. Treasury, Michael Deppler, IMF, and Peter Garber, Deutschebank, discussed the crisis of February 2001 and the current outlook.
A summary of the other meetings of this project appears on the NBER's web site here. A complete summary of this meeting will also be provided at that site.