A few days ago, I came across a discussion on a website as follows: "Erdoğanomics; autocratic capitalism: At first sight, (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan's economic system is close to the state capitalism of Russia or China where the state is the largest player in the market and drives the economy usually indirectly through private sector outlets. In Turkey, however, Erdoğan is the state, which makes his system more a type of autocratic capitalism."

Apart from the discussion findings, the concept of "Erdoğanomics" immediately got my attention. Similar to "Reaganomics," such namings generally refer to a particular period independent from positive or negative meanings.

As you may know, "Reaganomics" refers to the practice of supply-side economics adopted in the U.S. since the beginning of the 1980s. Emerging as a response to Keynesian theory in the 1970s, the concept of supply-side economics was notably implemented under the name of "Reaganomics" and "Thatcherism," respectively under U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's governments.

Reaganomics and Thatcherism include periodic and uncompromising practices of neoliberal theory. However, it is hard to say that they are only specific to the policies adopted in the U.S. and U.K. In emerging countries, supplyside economics have led tax rate reduction in public spending, a decrease in money supply, high interest rates and the need for inflation control.

Furthermore, the practices of supply-side economics were implemented as pro-Orthodox IMF policies leading to high devaluation rates followed by a sudden reduction in public spending and the adoption of autocratic financial practices with low wages. The political reflection of Reaganomics in emerging countries, as seen in Turkey, was democracy-repressing military dictatorships and fascism. Currently, some emerging countries, notably in Latin America, have abandoned the neoliberal financial policies and autocratic capitalism that resulted from Reaganomics.

In this respect, the concept of "Erdoğanomics" is a periodic survival from neoliberal policies and autocratic capitalism defined by the fascist military authority in the 1980s. The concept of "Erdoğanomics," furthermore, is similar to the financial policies adopted in Brazil with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and supported by Dilma Rousseff. Therefore, it is also possible to suggest a term like "Lulanomics." There is no significant difference between the financial policies adopted by Lula, the leader of the Brazilian Labor Party and the policies of Turkish PM Erdoğan. The demonstrations in Brazil that started last June criticized the large budget allocated for the stadium for the World Cup.

However, Rousseff 's government did not take this action merely to show the strong football infrastructure of Brazil. Similar to Prime Minister Erdoğan, Rousseff used the World Cup to stimulate the construction sector with multiple impacts. The reason is that both countries have to create new capital apart from the prosperous capital of the fascist-military coup period. This new capital class is not a state-based predatory capital as seen before, but has global competitive features and produces high technology.

There is an on-going discussion that Erdoğan's so-called political dictatorship is based on a closed and autocratic economy. In reality, however, the AK Party is trying to create a new capital class that will make strategic public investments by means of public resources in big cities and that has created a perfect state-controlled economy with public investments in the construction sector, including hospitals, railways, transportation networks, schools and mega airports. It can be said that this economy is not based on rants and an interest- based public economy, but rather on a balanced budget and the financing of public investments. Besides this, a balanced budget is decreasing the need for public debt and interest rates.

Erdoğanomics is also different from the money policies of pro-Orthodox economies. The concept of Erdoğanomics does not give credit to high interest rates as a solution for inflation. Compared to pro-Orthodox neoliberal policies, it suggests that high interest rates damage industrial enterprises, adding that the main reason for inflation is a high interest rate.

As mentioned above, these are more or less the discussions suggesting that Prime Minister Erdoğan has adopted an autarchic approach in the economy. However, the activities of Erdoğan's government can only be done with an open economy, not an autarchic one. As an example, he has adopted very important new energy policies to change the current monkey business in the Middle East and Caucasus.

The Turkish energy stock market is the main target of this change. Moreover, Erdoğan's government is efficiently implementing the competition authority and confronting monopoly-capitalism.

In this regard, if there are Lulanomics and Erdoğanomics, these will be newly developed deals against Reaganomics.

This policy includes an anti-monopoly approach. In other words, Erdoğanomics and Lulanomics are considered as new deals for emerging countries. Erdoğanomics abandons pro-Orthodox IMF money policies and supports a competitive and export-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) economy. It also suggests an open and anti-monopoly economy that is not based on interests.

Above all, if the concept of Erdoğanomics exists, I think it is a positive approach and should be sustained. As seen in the case of South Korea and different from the traditional monopoly capital class, Erdoğanomics aims to create an investor and globally competitive capital class.