Economic theory

Sat, 23 Mar 1996

Economic theory

After the discussion about values and economic development, Mr. D. Prabhakar wants enlightenment on political systems and economic development. (The Jakarta Post, March 20, 1996).

We have 496 years of experience trying to develop at the same time as coping with our government and our political systems. After discovering we were getting more government than we were paying for, we found a way: Brazil's formal economy grows only when our government sleeps. Counting only with the sleeping time we built the world's tenth biggest economy. Then we have the informal economy. This one -- at US$200 billion it's the world's 22nd biggest -- grows no matter whether the government sleeps or wakes. Don't wake them up and we may get an additional 0.1 percent of growth this year.

OSVALDO COELHO

Bandung, West Java

View JSON | Print