Capitalism is no evil

Capitalism is no evil

Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry Hartarto defines
trade liberalization as a system of open international trade with
minimum tariff barriers based on the 1945 Constitution.

After the APEC economic leaders' meeting in Bogor there has
been a widely held perception that Indonesia is moving to
liberate its economy.

Enough has been said about Indonesia's economy, which is
neither capitalist nor socialist. Ours is a combination of market
economy and a centralized economy.

Hitherto, we believe that a liberal economy is not suitable to
Indonesia because there will be cut-throat competition where only
the strong ones will survive and the common people will suffer
with the government standing helplessly on the sideline.

This was true 150 years ago during the industrial revolution
in Great Britain, which later swept all over Europe and the
United States. Since the 1930s, however, this has not been the
case.

The liberal economic system has since undergone a kind of
evolution and developed into one that protects the weak. The
intervention of government is still quite strong.

In advanced industrialized countries the system has even
stricter regulations on competition compared to those in
developing countries. At the same time, and due to various
reasons, we witness distorted market mechanisms, protection,
monopoly and collusion between businessmen and government
officials in developing countries.

Hence, we do not see the reason for us to be defensive on
being charged that ours is a liberal economy since it has ceased
to be an evil.

--Kompas, Jakarta