Preaching economists

Preaching economists

Interestingly, amid mounting public controversy over widening
inequality and the allegedly high prevalence of malfeasance and
other irregularities that accompany our robust economic growth,
noted Indonesian economists have increasingly been preaching the
value of conscience, common sense and public morality.

Widjojo Nitisastro, one of the country's most senior
economists, dedicated most of his speech at the 45th anniversary
of the Djakarta School of Economics at the University of
Indonesia campus in Depok on Monday to public morality and
conscience and not to economic theories, issues or the teaching
of economics.

Widjojo, the architect of Indonesian economic development for
more than two decades, said that schools should produce what he
calls intellectual workers and not handymen or craftsmen. He said
handymen differ from intellectual workers in that they do
whatever their employers order without questioning if the job is
against their sense of morality or conscience. Intellectual
workers also do what their employers ask, but they question jobs
they reckon contradict their morals and conscience. Intellectual
workers use not only their brains and skills but also common
sense and restraint.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad, a
student of Widjojo in the late 1960s, initially disappointed his
audience at the Bandung Institute of Technology with a speech
about social ethics and their impact on economic efficiency.
After the initial shock of not being given the usual lecture on
economic development, the audience became quite enthusiastic.
Mar'ie told the institute's faculty members that however good a
system might be, it will have loopholes that can be exploited by
unscrupulous people. State Minister for Development Planning
Ginandjar Kartasasmita and State Minister for Transmigration
Siswono Yudohusodo have also previously talked about what they
believe to be the characteristics of good governance.

Set against the increasing hedonistic and monopolistic
practices of greedy businesspeople and the pervasive official
view that as long as it is legal it is ethical, the speeches
calling for meaningful self-contemplation are quite refreshing.

The impressive economic development over the past three
decades has significantly changed portions of our value system.
The economic success has brought with it excesses, as reflected
in the way we measure our lives by what we get, what we acquire
and who we know. When the economy is considered the most
important key to unlock every door, it is indeed natural that the
worth of man is measured by his role as an economic tool.

The demands of modern materialism which are generated by the
fierce economic competition have made corporeal success -- not
the value of caring, the value of trying hard, the value of being
trustworthy and the value of accountability -- the measure of
prestige and achievement. Hence lies the relevance of the
messages conveyed by Widjojo and the three ministers.

Widjojo's special reference to intellectual workers who, he
said, tend to ask what is right and what is wrong is a warning
that political and intellectual freedom should not be curbed
while fierce economic competition is fully unleashed. Otherwise,
money will reign supreme, conquering cultural and human values.