Sumitro launches a new book<\/p>\n
Perkembangan Pemikiran Ekonomi: Dasar Teori Ekonomi Pertumbuhan
\ndan Ekonomi Pembangunan.
\n By Sumitro Djojohadikusumo
\n Publisher: LP3ES, 422 pages, 1994.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's most senior and respected economist,
\n77-year old Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, is known as an outspoken
\nanalyst. He does not mince words when a particular situation or
\ndevelopment requires him to prescribe caution.<\/p>\n
But Sumitro deserves one more superlative term: the most
\nproductive writer of economics papers and books in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He just came out with a new book entitled Perkembangan Pemikiran
\nEkonomi: Dasar Teori Ekonomi Pertumbuhan dan Ekonomi Pembangunan( The
\nEvolution of Economic Thoughts: Theoretical Premises of Growth
\nEconomics and Development Economics).<\/p>\n
What makes the 422-page book much more interesting and broader in
\nscope than simply a textbook is that it offers an unusual blend of
\ntheories, practices, historical perspectives and analyses in a
\nsocietal framework and even prescribes major policy
\nrecommendations.<\/p>\n
That combination makes the book highly valuable for students
\nand everybody else interested in the paradigms of development
\neconomics and growth economics and how those thoughts were
\nreflected in Indonesia's economic development over the past 25
\nyears and how they will influence the next 25 years.<\/p>\n
The ideas that formed development economics emerged in the
\n1940s and commanded both great intellectual excitement and
\nprestige while attracting creative minds in the 1950s. But, as
\nSumitro asserts in his introduction, there has not been any
\ngeneral theory on development economics.<\/p>\n
There have indeed been extensive works on the economics of developing
\ncountries-- since after all, development economics emphasizes the
\neconomics of underdevelopment. But though some of the problems
\nstudied or identified are essentially generic to all countries,
\nthere are many issues uniquely characteristic of poorer
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
Sumitro himself discussed the thoughts on development
\neconomics in his Ekonomi Pembangunan (Development Economics) book
\nwhich was published in 1950. His new book thus revisits
\ndevelopment economics, pinpointing new thoughts nurtured by
\ndevelopment theorists.<\/p>\n
Quick journey<\/p>\n
The first four chapters of the book provide a quick journey
\nback to classical theories on economic evolution and various
\ntheoretical approaches to development economics.<\/p>\n
These chapters feature almost all the noted development
\ntheorists and synthesize the paradigms that contributed to
\ndevelopment economics and growth economics. Just to mention
\nseveral of them: Roy F. Harrod and Evsey D. Domar, Nicholas-
\nKaldor, Simon Kuznets, Robert M.Solow, Rosenstein-Rodan with his
\nBig-Push theory, Albert Hirschman,<\/p>\n
Obviously all the theories and paradigms can not be covered
\nwith sufficient analytical clarity, so chapter two on growth
\ntheories is supplemented with an appendix featuring the Harrod,
\nDomar, Solow and Kaldor-style growth models.<\/p>\n
The theoretical approaches to development economics are
\nanalyzed against Indonesian economic development during the 1969-
\n1993 period, usually called the First Phase of Long-Term
\nDevelopment in chapter five. This chapter provides an in depth
\nprofile of the process, problems, achievements and challenges of
\nIndonesian economic development. It is rich with tables on key
\neconomic indicators and is therefore a highly valuable reference.<\/p>\n
What makes this chapter even more interesting is that it also
\nprojects the main challenges or agenda of economic development
\nduring the next 25 years (Second Phase of Long-Term Development)
\nand provides policy recommendations which, according to Sumitro,
\nare essential to achieve the targets.<\/p>\n
This chapter once again amplifies Sumitro's great concern,
\nexpressed on various occasions through speeches or papers, with
\nthe factors of high cost economy, structural disparities and
\nimbalances with regard to resource endowment, allocation of
\nproductive resources, the distribution of wealth and income and
\nthe prevailing institutional framework.<\/p>\n
The discussion of development economics is made even more
\ncohesive and coherent in the last four chapters by the analyses
\non human resources, science and technology, natural resources and
\nthe impact of development on the environment.<\/p>\n
Sumitro humbly states in his introduction that the book was
\ndesigned to be a basic guideline to help students and others gain
\ndeeper insight into the thoughts underlying the approaches to the
\nproblems of growth and development.<\/p>\n
That is quite an understatement.<\/p>\n
The book is so complete with economic thought, practices and
\npolicy recommendations that it could strongly influence the next
\ngeneration of Indonesian economists.<\/p>\n
Sumitro refuses to be called an architect of Indonesian
\neconomic policy despite his several tenures in the cabinet and
\nhis widely quoted analysis of economic issues.<\/p>\n
He claims, though, to carry some of the building materials for
\nthe country's economic policy architects. His new book, I think,
\ncould become another building block for the architects of
\nIndonesian economic development.<\/p>\n
-- Vincent Lingga<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sumitro-launches-a-new-book-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }