METU ECON Newsletter 2015 | Page 9

Ferhan Salman ( MET U Ec on o m ic s B .S . 19 9 6, M. S. 19 9 9) S hor t B i o: Fer ha n S al m a n is a S en i or Ec o n o mis t at th e Mi d d l e Eas t a nd C en tr al As i a De p art m en t o f t h e I n ter n at i on a l Mo n et ary Fu nd (I MF) . He is t he le a d des k o n P ak is t an an d t ea m l e ad er on t he V ul n er ab i l ity Ex er c is e o n O il Ex po r t i ng c ou n tri es . As p ar t of h is s oc i a l r es p o ns ib i l ity , h e is t he Pr es i d en t e l ec t o f th e W orl d B a nk - I MF Tu r k is h St af f As s oc i a ti o n a nd Fo u nd er a nd C o - c ha ir o f th e DC b as ed t h i nk ta nk Ca p it a l Tur k is h Co n nec t io ns . Pr i or t o j o in i n g t he I MF , Fer ha n w ork e d a t t he C e ntr a l B a nk of Tur k ey ( 19 9 6 - 2 0 09 ) . His p o l ic y and r es e arc h in t eres ts inc l ud e pr o gr a m d es ig n , s tr uc tu ra l r ef or m, mo n et ar y a nd f is c a l po l ic y , f in a nc i a l m ar k ets , a nd th e G 2 0 . Dur i n g th e g l ob a l c r i s is h e w or k e d o n a nu m be r of e m erg i n g ma r k e t ec o n o mi es i n E ur o p e, As ia an d t he Mi d d l e E as t . H e r ec e iv e d h is P h. D. fr om Bos t on U n iv e r s i ty ( 20 0 4) an d h is As s oc i a te Pr o fes s or ( Doç e nt) D e gre e ( 2 0 09) fr o m th e H i gh er E duc at i o n B oa rd ( YÖ K ) . W hat a ttr ac t e d yo u t o Ec on om ic s ? T he v ers a t il i t y of th e pr of es s io n . Ec on om is ts c a n c ons i der a n um ber of t as k s an d f i n d d if f er en t wa ys to tac k l e t h em , an d th e y do s o b y l o ok ing f or ef f ic i e nt a nd s oc ia l l y c o ns c io us wa ys . Yo u e arn e d yo ur P h. D. thr o u gh B os t o n Un i v ers it y. W hat was yo ur dis s er ta t io n o n ? It was t hr e e p ap ers o n P u b l ic Fi n a nc e . T he f irs t p ap er l ook e d at wa ys t o ba l a nc e t he i nt ert em por a l b u dg e t c ons tr ai n t of T urk e y g i ve n d em ogra p h ic d ynam ic s a nd c o ns um er ex p e nd i tu re pa tt er ns . T he s ec on d arg u e d f or th e p res e nc e of c ros s - s ec t io n a l he t ero g en e it y i n ris k a vers i o n b e ha v i or a n d arg u e d t h at s t a nd ar d c o ns um pt i o n ut i l it y f unc t i o ns s ho u l d b e m odif i e d to ad dr es s th is f ea tur e of c ons u m er be h a vi or . T h e las t on e lo ok e d a t t he i m pac t of t ax re l at e d ne ws on th e s toc k m ark et pr ic i n g of s ec ur i t ies . Yo u h a v e work e d f or t he C en tr a l Ba nk of T urk e y f or a wh i l e. H o w d id it af f ec t yo ur rec e n t ro l e as a S e n i or Ec o nom is t at th e IMF ? W ork at the I MF r eq u ir es d i v ers it y of bac k gr o un d a nd v i e ws in or d er t o s o lic i t ou t- of - th e- b ox a p pro a c hes . M y ex p er ie nc e f rom the c e ntr a l b a n k of a G 20 c o u ntr y he l p ed m e t o br in g in T urk e y’ s p ers pec t i ve on p o l ic i es . I was a b l e t o r ec om m end s om e of T urk e y’ s g o od p o lic y pr ac t ic es as a gu i d in g to o l f or o th e r c o un tr ies as t hes e ha d b ee n tes t ed a n d ha d ac h ie v e d p os i ti v e res u l ts . For ex am pl e, T urk e y’ s ex p er ie nc e wi t h f ore i gn ex c h a ng e a uc ti o ns , the bus i n es s c l i m at e a n d en er g y s ec t or ref o rm s pro v i d ed a g oo d ex am pl e f or c ou n tr ies be h i nd t he c ur v e. H a v i ng l i v ed t hro u g h a num be r of c ris es a nd I MF pr ogr am s in T urk e y, I c a