Collusion dictates to economy: Scholar<\/p>\n
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Collusion between powerful
\nconglomerates and the administration is so dominant that it
\ndictates the direction of the Indonesian economy, an economist
\nfrom Gadjah Mada University said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Conglomerates and bureaucrats are the two dominant groups
\nthat determine the fate of our economy,\" Revriand Baswir said in
\na seminar on the national economy held by Sebelas Maret
\nUniversity on Friday.<\/p>\n
The seminar also featured Sritua Arief, an economist from the
\nSalatiga-based Satya Wacana Christian University.<\/p>\n
Baswir, who is the director of the Yogyakarta-based Institute
\nof Development and Economic Analysis (IDEA), said conglomerates
\nand bureaucrats play important roles in determining the
\nproduction of goods in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"They are also the ones who reap the fruits of national
\ndevelopment,\" he added.<\/p>\n
At the same time the businesses of conglomerates and
\nbureaucrats are difficult to control, he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that 58 percent of Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product
\nis controlled by about 200 large conglomerates, 24 percent by 182
\nstate-owned enterprises, another 10 percent by middle-scale
\nbusinesses, and the remaining eight percent by 36 million small-
\nscale businesses and cooperatives.<\/p>\n
Strong<\/p>\n
Baswir said that collusion has made it difficult to
\ndifferentiate between conglomerates and bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
\"The interests of conglomerates and bureaucrats have become
\nsimilar. We end up with `Bureaucratic conglomerates' and
\n`conglomerated bureaucrats'. They are very strong and often
\ncannot be distinguished,\" he said.<\/p>\n
To change the situation, Baswir proposed the development of an
\n\"economy by and for the people\".<\/p>\n
Baswir said the concept would be consistent with the goals of
\nprosperity for the people as stipulated in the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
An economy by and for the people would require everyone to pay
\nattention to the economic condition of the common people, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Sritua Arief highlighted in his paper the fate of millions of
\nIndonesian farmers, whom he said have grown more impoverished as
\nthey have integrated with the modern economy.<\/p>\n
Sritua said many farmers have become heavily indebted under
\nthe modern economic system. They not only lost possession of
\ntheir land, but also ownership of the produce that they helped
\nplant.<\/p>\n
\"They have become mere planters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He noticed that farmers no longer have direct access to
\ncustomers, either local or abroad, and their fate is controlled
\nby middlemen who set the prices of their crops.<\/p>\n
This impoverishment push farmers towards even greater
\nindebtedness, Sritua said. \"No wonder they're becoming poorer and
\npoorer by the day.\"(har\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/collusion-dictates-to-economy-scholar-1447893297",
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