Economic rescue

Economic rescue

From Kompas

Regarding the Declaration on the Rescue of Indonesia's Economy, reported in Kompas of Aug. 6, as a fellow economist of those making the declaration, I am of the opinion that the declaration is quite proper in that the substance of the declaration has been expressed in public by the economists making the declaration and some other economists who miss being invited to join the drafting and launching of the declaration, such as Dibyo Prabowo, Kwik Kian Gie, Tulus Tambunan and myself. This declaration voices a clear conscience. The majority of economists must agree to the substance of the declaration. I am convinced that this declaration will prompt the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to focus their attention to the present and the future.

Calls telling people of a sense of crisis have often been heard, but unfortunately they are still responded to with an attitude characterized by relaxation, belittlement and a lack of seriousness. A sense of crisis means an awareness of an imminent danger of total failure and a realization that one must, firmly and without delay, take action to prevent our nation from going bankrupt. ("Crisis" is rendered in Japanese as Ki-Ki, the first Ki meaning danger and the second an opportunity to take action in order to resist and dispel the danger.)

As a fellow economist, I take pride in the launching of the declaration, but at the same time I cannot help feeling worried and sad. Why should I feel worried and sad while we still have our moral force. First, one of our ministers that I greatly respect was defensive about the declaration, instead of appreciating it, and has even marginalized the value of the declaration. Second, why hasn't the initiative to launch this kind of declaration been taken by economists serving as legislators at the DPR (there are quite a few of them)? Are our economists serving as legislators too busy for this matter? One may always take a populist stance but must always bear in mind that the macroeconomics principles must never be abandoned.

We are all hard pressed for time. Our awareness of the urgency of things is not just lip service. The government, the DPR and observers (scholars and observers constitute a moral force) must have the courage to abandon decadence and be quick enough to relearn the attitude, behavior and credibility (ABC), something which will not be just window dressing and marginal.

BOB WIDYAHARTONO

Jakarta