Back	At the Voyvoda Street Economic History Lectures this week: Turkish Economy from 1820 to 2001 Prof. Zafer Toprak, Director of the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History at Boğaziçi University, will be our guest speaker at the Voyvoda Street Economic History Lectures this March. His presentation, titled "The Pendulum Swing Between Protectionism and Liberalism in Turkey (1820-2001)", analyzes the evolution of Turkish economy, from 1820 to 2001, and is scheduled for Wednesday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m. "After the Napoleonic Wars," explains Prof. Toprak, " the process of economic liberalization in Turkey was interrupted by the task of nation-state building, and this disruption lasted until the 1980s. Nationalistic economy, statism, mixed economy, and import substitution all represent different stages in this break. Still, the impulse towards industrialization constituted the main axis of these processes and in the 20th century Turkey made the transition from an agricultural economy to an industrialized one. The key role of protectionist policies in this change cannot be denied since they were essential for capital accumulation. But protectionism brought with it with certain drawbacks. Lacking depth in the financial sector, incapable of diffusing its fiscal policies to the masses, and following the wrong budget policies, the Turkish economy entered a new phase of dependency reminiscent of the Ottoman Public Debt. Timing errors in the pendulum swing betwen protectionism and liberalism have destabilized Turkey's economy and jeopardize its place in the new global order." For further information on this free lecture offered by the Otoman Bank Museum, please call (212) 292 76 05.