We spent the day in Istanbul Turkey. The guide was a friendly 40 something Turkish gentlemen who knew he had us for the day and he had a couple of very significant points he wanted to make to us…

1) Turkey is not at all like Iraq or Iran… just because it is a predominantly Muslim country does not mean it is a bunch of hard line terrorists. He was careful to point out the signs of religious respect and tolerance in the city. An example was the museum Sophia that was at one time a Christian church (built in the 1100s) then converted to a Mosque (in the 1400s) then ultimately a museum that showcases both religions. He showed us where the Christian mosaics were not destroyed when it was converted to a Mosque but rather covered over with wood and preserved. His contention was that in a non tolerant Muslim society those would have been destroyed, not preserved…

2) Turkey has been waging an uphill battle to get into the European Union. A few years ago when they made application to join the EU leadership set what seemed like unattainable requirements including human rights requirements, etc. Turkey achieved those requirements in less then four years and is now on the way to full EU membership much to the chagrin of the EU leadership!

Istanbul is a City of 18 million people that is 160 Kilometers across! Everywhere you look are industrious people climbing their way up the economic ladder? We Americans tend to dismiss countries like Turkey but it is obvious their economic power and purchasing power will continue to climb! We should not underestimate them. They represent great potential trading partners.

Speaking of purchasing power… the American dollar has virtually none in Europe. It takes about 1.60 of our battered dollars to buy one Euro. Inexpensive suppers run $ 15-20 per person. Michelin rated restaurants run well over $ 125 per person (I am told).

I have read several articles while in Europe about what a relative bargain travelling in the USA is for Europeans this summer. They describe what they call cubicle dwellers going to New York and partaking in the city’s finest shopping, food and entertainment and not breaking their budget.

A few years ago I visited Haiti. Haiti has attractive weather and beaches but no source of energy. It also had most of its citizens living in abject poverty. It was at that time and is today the poorest country in Latin America. An improved standard of living includes additional energy consumption. Light bulbs, pumped water sources, and the like all require energy to run them. In order for Haiti to be in position to prosper its population will need to consume additional energy. Haiti has only two sources of funds to purchase energy: exports that generate dollars or Euros and foreign aid. Haiti’s income statement annually is the total of its exports in dollars denomination minus its imports- its balance of payments.

If you consider that the income statement of a country is its balance of payments and the resulting effect it has on its currency. We have been in a loss position for many years but it has been particularly exacerbated by our addiction to foreign oil and energy sources as oil demand has increased and oil prices with them. It is hard to see where this ends other than we will have to significantly change our consumption patterns. I recognize that the balance of payments should be somewhat self correcting in that as our dollar goes down it reduces the cost of exports therefore increasing demand. Our agricultural markets have been helped dramatically by that fact. I also spoke foreign producers who were lamenting the falling dollar as there goods were getting more expensive.

In the long run the general consensus is that there needs to be stability in our currency to have a stable economy.

We have just spent a few days in several Italian cities that show evidence of the European consumption patterns. Venice and the Cinque Terra cities. Venice has no vehicles in the city at all- only boats on the canals. The Cinque Terra is five towns that have only service vehicles that look like miniature versions of the US models- garbage trucks and the like.
There are clearly other ways of living that are a lot more sustainable in the long term.

So what does a small town business guy like me learn in a few days travelling in Europe and Asia? Things are not always as they appear, there is a big world out there that is getting smaller all the time and is exerting more influence on my little world all the time… and it has only just begun…