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Does Indonesia escape the Plunder Bankers?
The US, Europe, Japan, Russia, Brazil – all of them are facing an economic depression as the follow up of the financial crises. And all of us will suffer. Severely.
Maybe not really all of us though. Maybe Indonesia will escape the economical catastrophe ahead. “President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia would not see a repeat of the financial crisis of 1997, as all the fundamentals looked solid and there was clear potential for domestic market expansion” (Jakarta Post, 06.10.08).
‘Our woman in Jakarta‘ more or less agrees with him. She reports that the Indonesian banks are not poisoned by bad derivatives, there is no serious threat for a credit crunch, Indonesia is not largely dependent on export to the US or Europe and the losses on the stock market don’t matter that much in a country where the overwhelming majority has other problems than shares, bank accounts and pensions.
But on the same day in the same paper this news could also be read: “the benchmark JSX index shed 183.77 points, or 10.03 percent, to close at 1,648.7 points.” Which, I agree, are moderate losses in comparison to the New York, European and Russian stock markets but it indicates the archipelago does not consist of islands in the financial and economical world. Which, I have to grant him, governor Boediono of BI confirmed: “The shortage of global liquidity will be felt as a result of this crisis.” And he added: “We must be prepared to face this over the next six months to one year“.
Kishore Mahbubani at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta.
On Thursday, the 31st of July 2008, Kishore Mahbubani – see the previous post- held a lecture at the presidential palace. His audience was the national ruling elite of Indonesia, the President himself, government members etc. And, as a courteous guest, he said some flattering things about ( and to) his host. But he also had several encouraging observations on recent developments in the country as well as some advice, worth to ponder upon, on how to do better.
He compared for instance what happened in South America and China. While thirty or twenty years ago every insider would have predicted Latin America would do much better economically than the People’s Republic of China, exactly the opposite has happened. In the opinion of Mahbubani both made the one and only right choice regarding the economical system: free market capitalism. So that did not make the difference.
Newsflash: Dutch Comfort for Indonesian MP’s?
Most Indonesian citizens seem to think the majority of their politicians are prone to corruption and are useless apart from that. Though without doubt this is doing injustice to some of them, that is what one can see, read and hear about them on TV, in the papers or blogosphere and in conversations with friends and relatives.
Now here is some Dutch comfort for them – coming from the Netherlands indeed. The Dutch Central Agency for Statistics (CBS) in one of it’s surveys found a huge amount of cynicism concerning Dutch politics in the country. It published the results which indicate that almost half of the population (42%) thinks Dutch politicians are after their own interests only. Two thirds of the voters is of the opinion that their representatives don’t represent them properly at all. And over 90% is convinced politicians usually promise a lot more than they actually deliver. In common language that means: they cheat.
So, just like the Indonesian constituents, the Dutch voters are very critical about their politicians. They may not accuse them of corruption, yet they consider them to be almost as untrustworthy and useless as their Indonesian counterparts.
This, I guess, must be of some (Dutch) comfort for Indonesian MP’s.
Indonesia, a Jilbab Democracy?
Henk Schulte Nordholt ends his book (“Indonesia na Suharto, reformasi en restauratie“, 2008;ISBN 978 90 351 31354 ) with a quote by Ben Mboi, ex governor of Nusa Tenggara Timur: “Indonesia is like the Titanic. The only difference is that Indonesia keeps on sinking without perishing“.
I can say it at the outset: this is solid but tasty contemporary history. Preceded by two chapters on the Sukarno era and the Suharto’s New Order, it is mainly about the last ten turbulent years of Indonesia. An easy, informative and pleasant read, despite the thorough and scrupulous scientific approach the author took. It contains a lot of relevant facts ( of course), quite a number of new and refreshing insights ( at least to this reader) and useful matter-of-fact debunking of a number of myths, plus a general conclusion which leaves a lot of doubt about Indonesia’s future as a democracy. Read More
Indonesia – which way to prosperity?
They are unrepenting. Always trying to find new accomplices. Never stopping to impose their economic morals.
Last Friday The Jakarta Post reported the OECD had said: “RI needs more liberalization”. That looks like a warning. But according to the Amsterdam based NRC this club of thirty rich, developed countries had offered a “Special relationship for Indonesia”. Which can be considered to be an incentive for staying on the right track.
It was the first time an economic assessment dedicated to Indonesia has been presented by the organization. According to its secretary-general, Angel Gurria, it’s the first step on the country’s way to full membership. Despite quite a number of shortcomings, the survey strikes an optimistic note: Indonesia may well achieve the growth rates of China in the long run.