November 2022 Issue To Watch: Halloween, Inflation, and the Quantity Theory of Money by Wayne Forrest We’ve just experienced a Halloween in which frightful fantasies become reality as the young seek happiness, expecting they are protected, but they are not. Who knew that the American costume and candy holiday (at one time it raised
October 2022 Issue To Watch: The Increasing Role of Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises Commentary by Wayne Forrest You send your kids to school in America, thinking they’re safe, and then a shooting occurs. In Indonesia, it could be a flood collapsing a school’s wall. America’s infrastructure issues are internal, between our ears; in Indonesia, they’re
SEPTEMBER 2022 Issue To Watch: Indonesia After 3 Years Commentary by Wayne Forrest It was wonderful to be in Indonesia for two weeks in August for the first time in three years. Not only did I see old friends and make new ones, I had a chance to travel on one of the many
July 2022 JOKOWI ON THE WORLD STAGE Commentary by Wayne Forrest It has been many years since an Indonesian leader actively engaged in global affairs and its current President has scrupulously avoided many international engagements because of his singular focus on improving the nation’s infrastructure and economy. President Jokowi recently departed from this scenario,
May 2022 CHALLENGE TO NEUTRALITY Commentary by Wayne Forrest Since 1966 Indonesia has always often prioritized development over geopolitics. Other than its early years, Indonesia has usually kept a low profile internationally, subscribing to an international, mostly Western-driven, common consensus. Its famed practical neutrality is now being challenged by not just the Ukraine War
March 2022 WAR IN UKRAINE Some tell me the current thinking in Jakarta is that the Ukraine War is a two-month affair, a view I suspect may be wishful thinking. The conflict may not be affecting Indonesia yet, but it will have to navigate a riskier environment, especially the longer the war lasts. No matter
February 2022 Reforming the Sembako Economy Although Indonesia actively courts an image of a modernizing economy interested to develop high technologies, such as the electric vehicles, contrasting narratives often occur reminding us that the nation’s underpinning as well as the core interests of its people remain the sembako (9 basic daily necessities): rice, salt,
January 2022 OUTLOOK FOR 2022 Dusting off the crystal ball is always a daunting task; sometimes you just want to smash it, given the unpredictability of predicting. Here then, is my modest assessment of 2021 and outlook for 2022. Consider them notes and comments. I will leave the deeper analysis to those working on longer
December 2021 THE WAREHOUSE IS EMPTIED At the end of July, at the height of the Delta variant’s impact, I learned that the City of NY had offered over 250 tons of surplus COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment( PPE) and medical supplies to the Republic of Indonesia, most of it stored in a Pennsylvania warehouse. It
November 2021 THE GHOST OF ALI WARDANA In 1975 a bombshell hit the Indonesian economy: after many years of massive, short-term borrowing and corruption, the Indonesian government of President Suharto publicly declared Pertamina, the state-owned oil conglomerate, bankrupt, having accumulated debts of $10.5 billion. Indonesia’s reputation and ability to borrow was severely damaged. A