Kwik responds to criticism<\/p>\n
On Aug. 26, 2000, The Jakarta Post ran an interview with Tony
\nPrasetyantono titled New Cabinet a wasted opportunity for Gus
\nDur. In the interview, he made some statements which are wrong.
\nThere is not one member in the Cabinet who is a member of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
\nBungaran Saragih is not a member of the party. He once gave a
\nlecture on the development of PDI Perjuangan. In certain cases he
\nwas even hostile to the party, especially when it was being
\noppressed by the Soeharto regime.<\/p>\n
Another disturbing thing in his interview is his judgment that
\nI do not understand macroeconomics. While I do not want to argue
\nabout whether I am knowledgeable about macroeconomics or not, I
\nmust ask on what he based this judgment? Wouldn't it have been
\nproper for Tony to at least have called Erasmus University for
\ninformation about my studies? How does he know I never updated my
\nknowledge of macroeconomics after I graduated? This question is
\nalso valid for other economists and economic observers who said I
\nwas not knowledgeable about macroeconomics.<\/p>\n
Tony also said: \"I think Kwik's weakness was his limited
\nunderstanding of macroeconomics and his inability to say no.\" How
\ndoes he know that? Does he know what I said to former president
\nHabibie when he asked me to serve in his Cabinet? Was he present
\nat the numerous meetings with Abdurrahman Wahid, and was he
\npresent at the debates with the IMF negotiating team on the
\nimport duties on rice and sugar, on the recapitalization of
\nbanks, etc.? Is he bright enough to understand the subtlety of my
\nresignation letter dated Aug. 10, 2000?<\/p>\n
The chapter in the letter of intent on \"The Macroeconomic
\nFramework\" was composed by the macroeconomists of the IMF and the
\nIndonesian macroeconomists at the Ministry of Finance and the
\ndeputies to the coordinating minister, Prof. Arsyad Anwar and
\nKomara Djaja. Suppose my knowledge of macroeconomics is zero,
\nwhat is the relevance for the formulation of macroeconomic
\npolicies if the architects are outstanding macroeconomists like
\nProf. Arsyad Anwar, Komara Djaja and macroeconomists from the
\nWorld Bank and the IMF?<\/p>\n
They are not as well known as Mr. Tony Prasetyantono, because
\nthey are not (using the terminology of Dr. Paul Krugman) \"airport
\neconomists\". They are real economists, like so many Nobel
\nlaureates whose names are less known than airport economists.<\/p>\n
Tony Prasetyantono, as with so many observers, says things in
\nthe media that are completely baseless. Tony Prasetyantono also
\nhas the tendency to be erratic. On April 11, when the Indonesian
\ndelegation in Paris was about to start the Paris Club meeting to
\nreschedule Indonesia's public debt, he told Kompas there were
\nsigns the Paris Club would not reschedule US$2.1 billion in debt
\ndue in the fiscal year 2000. The following day, the Paris Club
\nagreed to reschedule the debt. On the same day, Tony said again
\nin Kompas this was not an achievement. On the contrary, he said,
\nthe Indonesian delegation had created a time bomb for future
\ngenerations, as payments due in 2000, 2001 and the first quarter
\nof 2002 had been rescheduled until 20 years from the date.<\/p>\n
I feel very sorry prestigious newspapers like The Jakarta
\nPost and Kompas provide space for false and misleading comments
\nby so many observers. However, I was advised by a close friend
\nwho is an intellectual of the highest caliber, saying I should
\nunderstand people deserve leaders of the same quality as
\nthemselves. He said: Bangsa tempe hanya berhak mendapatkan
\npemimpin yang tempe, karena pemimpin yang bukan tempe minggir (an
\ninferior nation only deserves to have leaders of inferior
\nquality, because the leaders of noninferior quality step aside).
\nI remember an outstanding economist said many years ago that bad
\nmoney always drives out good money.<\/p>\n
KWIK KIAN GIE<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kwik-responds-to-criticism-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }