Book Reviews

M. Arsjad Anwar, Thee Kian Wie, Iwan Jaya Azis, Pemikiran, Pdaksanaan, dan Perintisan Pembangunan Ekonomi[Concepts, Implementation, and Pioneering in Economic Development], Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia and PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1992, pp. xx + 700.

Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, and Westview, Boulder, 1994, pp. 370. Paper: A$24.95.

East Asia Analytical Unit, Expanding Horizons: Australia and Indonesia into the 22st Century,Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra, 1994, pp. xviii + 346. A$34.95.

Sjahrir, Pikiran Politik[Political Ideas], LP3ES, Jakarta, 1994, pp. xiv + 191.

Sjahrir, Persoalan Ekonomi Indonesia: Moneter, Perkreditan dan Nenca Pembayaran[Problems of the Indonesian Economy: Money, Credit and the Balance of Payments], Pustaka Sinar Harapan, Jakarta, 1995, pp. xv + 205.

Sjahrir, Analisis Bursa Efek[Analysis of the Stock Exchange], PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1995, pp. xiv + 169.

Sjahrir, Ekonomi Indonesia dalam Perspektif Bisnis[The Indonesian Economy in a Business Perspective], PT Jurnalindo Aksara Grafika, Jakarta, 1994, pp. xvi + 239.

Sjahrir, Kebijakan Negara Mengantisipasi Masa Depan[National Policy: Anticipating the Future], Yayasan Obor Indonesia, Jakarta, 1994, pp. xv + 251.

Sjahrir, Formasi Mikro-Makro Ekonomi Indonesia[Indonesia's Macro and Micro Economy], Penerbit Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, 1995, pp. xii + 313

F.B.A. Bouman and Otto Hospes, Financial Landscapes Reconstructed: The Fine Art of Mapping Development,Westview, Boulder, 1994, pp. xi + 416. US$45.00

Robert Cribb (ed.), The Late Colonial State in Indonesia: Political and Economic foundations of the Netherlands Indies 1880–1942,Verhandelmgen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 163, KITLV Press, Leiden, 1994, pp. xiii + 295.

Shinya Sugiyama and Milagros C. Guerrero (eds), International Commercial Rivalry in Southeast Asia in the Inierwar Period,Yale Southeast Asia Studies Monograph 39, Yale Center for International and Area Studies, New Haven, 1994, pp. ix + 222.

W.L. Korthals Altes, Changing Economy in Indonesia. Volume 15: Prices (Non-Rice) 1814–1940,Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, 1994, pp. 175. Paper: Dfl. 48.00.     

Publications

Howard W. Beers (ed.) Indonesia: Resources and Their Technological Development. Lexington, 1970. Pp. 282. Price $US10.50.

Widojojo Nitisastro Population Trends in Indonesia. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1970, pp. 266.     

Publications

H. S. Kartadjoemena, The Politics of External Economic Relations: Indonesia's Options, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1977(?), pp. 179, $S 12.00

Ingrid Palmer, The Indonesian Economy since 1965: A Case Study of Political Economy, London, Frank Cass, 1978, pp. ix, 196, £11.00.

Gadjah Mada University, Faculty of Economics, Graduate Program in Economics, Four Papers on Employment and Income Distribution in Indonesian Agriculture, Yogyakarta, pp. 118 + ii, mimeo.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Country Market Sectoral Survey, Indonesia: A Survey of U.S. Business Opportunities, U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1977, pp. 320.

Borrowing By Developing Countries on the Euro-currency Market P. A. Wellons, OECD, Paris 1977 $20, pp. 449.

Mayling Oey and Ketut Sudhana Astika, The Social and Economic Implications of Transmigration in Indonesia: A Policy-Oriented Review and Synopsis of Existing Research. L. P. E. M., Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Indonesia, 1978, pp. 228.

Paul A. Meyer and Colin MacAndrews, Transmigration in Indonesia. An Annotated Bibliography. Gadjah Mada University Press, 1978, 245 pages.

Fox, James J., Harvest of the Palm: Ecological Change in Eastern Indonesia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1977.     

Book Reviews

Huib Foot, Arie Kuyvenhoven and Jaap Jansen, Industrialisation and Trade in Indonesia, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1990, pp. vii + 552.

W.L. Korthals Altes, General Trade Statistics, 1822–1940, Changing Economy in Indonesia, Volume 12a, Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1991, pp. 200.

Adrian Clemens, J. Thomas Lindblad and Jeroen Touwen, Regional Patterns in Foreign Trade, 1911–1940, Changing Economy in Indonesia, Volume 12B, Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1992, pp. 104.

BRIEFLY NOTED: Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, Introduction to Government Administration, Planning and Budgeting in Indonesia, Canberra: Aidab, 1991, pp. xxii + 60.

Helen Hughes (ed.), The Dangers of Export Pessimism: Developing Countries and Industrial Markets, San Francisco: International Center for Economic Growth, 1992, pp. xxvii + 446.

M.G. Asher el al., Fiscal Incentives and Economic Management in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, Singapore: Asian-Pacific Tax and Investment Research Centre, 1992, pp. viii + 133.

Hal Hill, Indonesia's Textile and Garment Industries: Developments in an Asian Perspective, Occasional paper no. 87, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1992, pp. vi + 83.     

Book Reviews

Richard Higgott and Richard Robison (eds), Southeast Asia: Essays in the Political Economy of Structural Change, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985. £18.00 (cloth)

John Wong, The Political Economy of China's Changing Relations with Southeast Asia, London: Macmillan Press, 1984, pp. xvi + 246.

Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, Perdagangan dan Industri dalam Pembangunan [Trade and Industry in Development], Jakarta: LP3ES, 1985, pp. 133.Thee Kian Wie

Masyarakat Indonesia, 12(3), Jakarta: LIPI, December, 1985. Special issue edited by Thee Kian Wie, entitled 'Kaitan-Kaitan Vertikal Antar-perusahaan dan Pengembangan Sistem Subkontraktor di Indonesia: Beberapa Studi Kasus' [Vertical Linkages between Firms and the Development of the Subcontracting System in Indonesia: Several Case Studies].

D. B. G. Denoon, Devaluation under Pressure: India, Indonesia and Ghana, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1986, pp. xi + 260. US$28.75

John W. Mellor and Gunvant M. Desai (eds). Agricultural Change and Rural Poverty, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985, pp. xix + 233. US$27.45.

'Indonesia's Transmigration Programme: A Special Report', The Ecologist, Vol. 16, No. 2/3, 1986. £4.00     

Book Reviews

W.T. Woo, B. Glassburner and Anwar Nasution, Macroeconomic Policies, Crises, and Long-term Growth in Indonesia, 1965–90, Comparative Economic Studies, The World Bank, Washington DC, 1994, pp. xiii + 216. Paper: $13.95.

Hal Hill (ed.), Indonesia's New Order; The Dynamics of Socio-Economic Transformation, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1994, pp. xxxv + 364. Paper: A$29.95.

J. Thomas Lindblad (ed.), New Challenges in the Modern Economic History of Indonesia: Proceedings of the First Conference on Indonesia 's Modern Economic History, Jakarta, October 1–4, 1991, Programme of Indonesian Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, 1993, pp. viii + 306.

Thee Kian Wie, Explorations in Indonesia's Economic History, Lembaga Penerbit Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, 1994, pp. xv + 187.

Nancy Lee Peluso, Rich Forests, Poor People: Resource Control and Resistance in Java, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992, pp. xv + 321.

Effendi Pasandaran, Agus Pakpahan, Edwin B. Oyer and Norman Uphoff (eds), Poverty Alleviation with Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development in Indonesia, Published jointly by the Center for Agro-Socioeconomic Research (CASER) (Bogor), and the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) (Ithaca), Bogor 1992, pp. vi + 233.

Eric Thorbecke and Theodore van der Pluijm, Rural Indonesia: Socio-Economic Development in a Changing Environment, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) Studies in Rural Development no. 3, New York University Press, New York, 1993, pp. xxix + 360.

Niels Mulder, Inside Southeast Asia: Thai, Javanese and Filipino Interpretations of Everyday Life, Duang Kamol, Bangkok, 1992, pp. xiii + 178.

M.C. Ricklefs, War, Culture and Economy in Java, 1677–1726: Asian and European Imperialism in the Early Kartasura Period, ASAA Southeast Asia Publications Series no. 24, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993, pp. xi + 425. A$29.95.

Ken Young, Islamic Peasants and the State: The 1908 Anti-Tax Rebellion in West Sumatra, Yale Southeast Asia Studies Monograph 40, Yale Center for International and Area Studies, New Haven, pp. xviii + 361.

Saya Shiraishi and Takashi Shiraishi (eds), The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia, Translation Series, Translation of Contemporary Japanese Scholarship on Southeast Asia, vol. 3, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1993, pp. 172.     

SURVEY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Summary Political and economic stability prevailed in Indonesia to early June 2007. President Yudhoyono made some badly needed changes to his cabinet, but left the core economic team unchanged. This inspired further confidence in the government's economic policies, yet it still fails to satisfy public expectations. The Lapindo mudflow disaster continues to weigh on the government, with no clear strategy apparent.

The economy shows stable macroeconomic fundamentals. Growth remained at around 6% p.a., driven mainly by investment and exports. The exchange rate strengthened and the stock market continued its rise. The central bank lowered the policy interest rate further, but this is likely to have little effect on growth, and brings some macroeconomic risks. Increasing or even maintaining current growth rates could be a challenge, given that export growth depends strongly on the global commodity boom, and improvements in the investment climate remain uncertain.

The parliament passed the long-awaited new investment law, which promises a more open and friendly investment regime. Doubts surround the implementation of the law, however. There are concerns that the new negative list could be overly protective and that the continued role of the Investment Coordinating Board may cause coordination problems among agencies and with sub-national governments. Boosting growth in manufacturing could be the key to higher overall growth. Structural change in the manufacturing sector over recent years has seen labour-intensive industry decline in terms of both output and exports, mainly because of rigid labour policies.

Efforts to boost private sector investment in infrastructure still show limited success. Implementation of regulatory and bureaucratic reforms is ineffective, and domestic financing remains in short supply. Public provision of infrastructure needs to increase, but suffers from shortcomings in fiscal management and a mismatch between the often cross-district nature of infrastructure projects and the now strongly district-based budgetary authority. Electricity supply exemplifies how the lack of well-designed investment strategies limits Indonesia's growth potential. Power sector investment has stagnated despite strong growth in electricity demand, and current plans for coal-based capacity expansion lack thorough planning.

An emerging long-term challenge for policy makers is climate change. Ahead of the December UN climate change conference in Bali, recent reports have highlighted Indonesia's vulnerability to climate change and its contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly from deforestation. Slowing or halting of deforestation is unlikely to occur without large-scale international financial flows.     

Survey of recent developments

There is a growing confidence in policy, business and finance circles about Indonesia's ability to withstand global economic and financial shocks, and a renewed belief in domestic sources of growth. Despite uncertainty in Europe and slower than expected recovery in the US, Indonesia is well placed for moderately high growth in the medium term, and economic stability in the shorter term. At the end of June 2011, foreign reserves were at a record high, inflation was down, annual growth was steady at 6.5%, and investment – especially foreign direct investment (FDI) – was up significantly.

Consumer price inflation had fallen to just below 5% by August, from double-digit levels earlier in the year. This was due partly to low food prices and success in sterilising the effects of capital inflows. However, turmoil in international markets led to a sharp fall in the Indonesia stock exchange index and a mild currency depreciation in August– September, prompting central bank intervention in the foreign exchange market. Fiscal policy has remained conservative, aiming for a balanced budget by 2014. However, the government has still not moved to reduce growing fuel and energy subsidies.

While the service sectors have continued to record high rates of growth, there has been a revival of manufacturing in 2011. This is partly underpinned by strong inflows of FDI, and is especially evident in the labour-intensive textiles, clothing and footwear industries after a decade of stagnation. Multinationals have announced plans to expand operations in Indonesia in the past six months to take advantage of new tax incentives. Overseas investors have also been attracted by Indonesia's growing middle class – a result partly of higher rural incomes driven by the commodity boom outside Java.

Some recent ministerial announcements about initiatives to promote domestic industry have a protectionist flavour. A cabinet reshuffle in October may signal a more dirigiste approach to industrial policy – especially the shifting of internationally respected economist Mari Pangestu from the trade portfolio to that of tourism and creative economy.

One important outcome of recent growth has been falling unemployment rates. However, youth unemployment remains a major problem, and efforts to overcome it have been fragmentary. A recent ban on overseas migration of domestic helpers (maids) seems certain to add to labour supply pressures among young people.

The government is now considering how to mobilise its large population base, abundant natural resources and strategic location to play a greater role in the world economy. These assets are central to the ambitious ‘Master Plan’ for longer-term development (2011–25), announced in May. It focuses on developing the resource-rich Outer Island regions, with massive investments in energy and ‘connectivity’ to link the major centres and islands with each other, and centres with their hinterlands. Funding (to come mainly from the private sector), implementation and coordination are all major challenges.     

Survey of recent developments

The arrival of a new year has brought with it an increased focus on Indonesia's 2014 legislative and presidential elections. While voters may be disillusioned with established political figures, a strong presidential candidate has yet to emerge. Many voters appear to yearn for an experienced and uncorrupt leader with new and proactive policies, which is why Jakarta's new governor, Joko Widodo, is being viewed as a potential candidate.

The Constitutional Court has made two major, controversial rulings in recent months: the first concerned the upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, the second the international-standard pilot-project schools (Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional, RSBIs). The Court ruled both institutions unconstitutional and called for their immediate disbandment.

In 2012, Indonesia's year-on-year economic growth slowed slightly, to a still healthy 6.2%, owing to continued weak global demand for its exports and a contraction in government expenditure. In contrast, foreign direct investment and portfolio investment were particularly strong, with respective increases of 25% and more than 142%. At 4.3%, inflation for the 2012 calendar year still remains well within the government's and Bank Indonesia's expectations. However, inflation expectations are high for 2013, owing to likely reforms to energy subsidies; the expected effect of bad weather on food prices; and increases in minimum wages, which attracted attention in 2012 because of their magnitude and their apparent disparity among regions. Concerns also exist that these rises in minimum wages will hamper Indonesia's international competitiveness and could discourage investment in labour-intensive industries.

Minimum-wage policy is also controversial because of doubts about its relevance to the genuinely poor sections of society – those in informal employment or with primarily subsistence income, who constitute a large proportion of the population. Indonesia has experienced a steady increase in income inequality in the last decade, indicating that the benefits of strong economic growth have not been shared equally. Potential reasons for this increasing inequality relate to labour-market segmentation amid a growing middle class, weak institutional foundations, and commodity-driven growth.

It appeared in 2012 that Indonesia has also been one of the world's poorest performers in HIV/AIDS prevention in recent years. While prevalence rates are low, the number of new HIV infections in 2011 was more than four times that of any other South Asian or Southeast Asian country, and the infection rate among the working-age population has risen by more than 25% since 2001. Infection rates among high-risk groups are also alarmingly high compared with those of other Southeast Asian countries. Targeted prevention, treatment and support programs among these groups are paramount.     

Book Reviews

Jonathan R. Pincus (1996), Class, Power and Agrarian Change: Land and Labour in Rural West Java, Studies on the Economics of East and Southeast Asia, Macmillan, Hampshire, pp. xii + 248.

Pierre van der Eng (1996), Agricultural Growth in Indonesia' Productivity Change and Policy Impact since 1880, Macmillan and St Martin's Press, London and New York, pp. xii + 375. £50.00

Mari E. Pangestu and Yuri Sato (eds) (1997), Waves of Change in Indonesia's Manufacturing Industry, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, pp xiv + 225.

Peter van Diermen (1997), Small Business in Indonesia, Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. xvn + 234. Cloth: £37.50

Jonathan Rigg (1997), Southeast Asia: The Human Landscape of Modernization and Development, Routledge, London, pp. xxv + 326.

HaI Hill, Indonesia's Industrial Transformation, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp xix + 403.     

Publication

Laporan Tahun Pembukuan 1960-65 [Report for the Fiscal Years 1960-65]. Bank Indonesia, Djakarta, 1968. Pp. xii + 3O1 and appendices.

Masalah Ekonomi Beserta Pemetjahannja [Economic Problems and their Solution]. Symposium organised by the Central Presidium of KAMI, 1-6 June 1968. Student Senate, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, Djakarta, 1968. Mimeographed, pp. 260.

Business Prospects in Indonesia Today. Published by the Committee for the 17th August Celebration and the Indonesian Community in Hong Kong, August 1968. Pp. 182.

Statistical Pocketbook of Indonesia, 1964-1967. Central Statistical Bureau, Djakarta, 1968. Pp. lii + 418.

Data-data Statistik Pokok Pembangunan Ekonomi [Basic Statistics for Economic Development]. Badan Perent janaan Pembangunan Nasional, Djakarta, 17 August, 1968. Mimeographed, pp. 50.

Report of the Singapore Technical Fact-Finding Mission on the Development of Tourism in Bali. Economic Development Division, Ministry of Finance, Republic of Singapore, June 1968. Pp. 79, Sp. $3.00

Bank Negara Indonesia Unit I, Bulletin of Economic and Financial Statistics, July 1968. Mimeographed, pp. 29.

Indonesian Economic Review vol. 1, no. 1-, May 1968-. Djakarta, Berdikari Ltd (monthly).

Iklantara, No. 1-, August, 1968-, Djakarta, Iklantara Advertising Agency (monthly).     

Book Reviews

Louis T. Wells Jr., Third World Multinationals, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1983, pp. viii + 206. $17.50.

O van den Muizenberg, P. Streefland, and W. Wolters (eds), Focus on the Region in Asia, Rotterdam: Erasmus University Comparative Asian Studies Program, 1982, pp. 349.

Brian Wawn, The Economics of the ASEAN Countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, London: Macmillan, 1982, pp. ix + 180. A$48.00.

Anthony H. Chisolm and Rodney Tyers (eds), Food Security: Theory, Policy, and Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific Rim, Toronto: Lexington Books, D. C. Heath and Co., pp. xx + 359. $39.50.

Marcel Bonneff. Françoise Cayrac-Blanchard, Pierre Labrousse, Jacques Leclere. Denys Lombard, Monique Zaini-Lajoubert, Pantjasila: Trente Années de Débats Politiques en Indonésie. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de I' Homme, Etudes insulin-diennes/Archipe1 2, 1980, pp. viii + 427, illustrations, index.

Hans P. Binswanger, Robert E. Evenson, Cecilia A. Florencio & Benjamin N. F. White (eds). Rural Houshold Studies in Asia, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1980, pp. 369. US$28.00.

Ida Bagus Mantra, Population Movement in Wet Rice Communities, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1981.

A. Fujimoto (ed.), Socioeconomic Study of Rice Farming and Marketing in Indonesia: A Case Study of Gadingsari, Central Java, Tokyo: Nodai Research Institute, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1982, pp. 139.

Wilbert Gooneratne (ed.), Labour Absorption in Rice-based Agriculture: Case Studies from South-east Asia, Bangkok: International Labour Office, Asian Regional Team for Employment Promotion, 1982. US$5.00.

Zainab Bakir and Chris Manning (eds), Partisipasi Angkatan Kerja, Kesempatan Kerja dan Pengangguran di Indonesia (Labour Force Participation. Work Opportunities and Unemployment in Indonesia), Yogyakarta: Pusat Penelitian dan Studi Kependudukan, Universitas Gadjah Mada. 1983.

Soeharsono Soemantri, Study of Indonesia's Economically Active Population, 2nd edition, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1982.

Priyono Tjiptoherijanto, M. Yasin, Bakir Hasan, Djunaedi Hadisumarto (eds). Sumber Daya Manusia, Kesempatan Kerja dan Pembangunan Ekonomi (Human Resources, Job Opportunities and Economic Development), Jakarta: Lembaga Penerbit Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia, 1982.     

Publications

Wouter van Ginneken, Rural and Urban Income Inequalities in Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Tanzania and Tunisia, (I. L. O. Geneva, 1976) Paperback, Swiss fr. 15 (also available in hardcover) pp. 67.

Prospects for Trade Between Indonesia and Australia, Report from the Standing Committee on Industry and Trade, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1975.

Abukasan Atmodirono and James Osborn, Services and Development in Five Indonesian Middle Cities, Center for Regional and Urban Studies, Institute of Technology, Bandung, June 1974. Pp vii + 285.

R. D. Montgomery and D. C. Sister, Labor Absorption in logjakarta, Indonesia: An Input-Output Study, Department of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York March 1976,: pp. 85.

Peter F. McDonald and Alip Sontosudarmo, Reponse to Population Pressure: The Case of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University Press, 1976, 103 pp.

Koentjaraningrat, Masyarakat Desa di Selatan Jakarta, Jakarta Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI), 1975, pp. 133.

Biro Pusat Statistik, Statistik Indonesia, Statistical Pocketbook, Indonesia, 1974/1975. Jakarta, Biro Pusat Statistik, 1975.     

Book Reviews

Andrew MacIntyre (ed.), Business and Government in Industrialising Asia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994, pp. xii + 312. Paper: A$29.95.

John Bresnan, From Dominoes to Dynamos: The Transformation of Southeast Asia, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 1994, pp. x + 115. $17.95.

Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450–1680: Volume Two, Expansion and Crisis, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1993, pp. xv + 390.

Binhadi, Financial Sector Deregulation, Banking Development and Monetary Policy: The Indonesian Experience (1983–1993), Indonesian Bankers' Institute, Jakarta, 1995.

Anwar Shah and Zia Qureshi, with Amaresh Bagchi, Brian Binder, and Heng-fu Zou, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Indonesia: Issues and Reform Options, World Bank Discussion Papers 239, Washington DC, pp. xxxii + 279. $17.95; A$425.00; NZ$30.25.

Jacqueline Vel, The Uma-economy: Indigenous Economics and Development Work in Lawonda, Sumba (Eastern-Indonesia), Wageningen, pp. xiv + 283. $20.00 + $8 postage & handling.

Joao Mariano de Sousa Saldanha, The Political Economy of East Timor Development, translated by Theresia Slamet and P.G. Kattopo, Pustaka Sinar Harapan, Jakarta, 1994, pp. 414.

Jan-Paul Dirkse, Frans H$uUsken and Mario Rutten (eds), Development and Social Welfare: Indonesia's Experiences under the New Order, KITLV Press, Leiden, 1993, pp. 267.

W.G. Huff, The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994, pp. xxi + 472. A$60.

Saha Dhevan Meyanathan (ed.), Industrial Structures and the Development of Small and Medium Enterprise Linkages: Examples from East Asia, The World Bank (Economic Development Institute of the World Bank Seminar Series), Washington DC, 1994, pp. v + 158. Paper: $9.95.

Thee Kian Wie, Industrialisasi di Indonesia: Beberapa Kajian, LP3ES, Jakarta, pp. xxvi + 278 (including Introduction by Mari Pangestu).     

Book Reviews

David Glover and Timothy Jessup (eds) (1999), Indonesia's Fires and Haze: The Cost of Catastrophe, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, pp. xviii + 149. Cloth: S$59.90; US$36.00; Paper: S$28.90; US$17.00.

Jeffrey A. Winters (1996), Power in Motion: Capital Mobility and the Indonesian State, Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY, pp. xvi + 241. Cloth: US$36.90; A$54.25.

Donald K. Emmerson (ed.) (1999), Indonesia Beyond Suharto: Polity, Economy, Society, Transition, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk NY and London, published in cooperation with The Asia Society, pp. xxviii + 395. Cloth: US$69.95; Paper: US$26.95. Not available in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Tulus Tahi Hamonangan Tambunan (2000), Development of Small-scale Industries during the New Order Government in Indonesia, Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 218. Cloth: £37.50.

C.H. Kwan, Donna Vandenbrink and Chia Slow Yue (eds) (1998), Coping with Capital Flows in East Asia, Nomura Research Institute, Tokyo, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp. xiii + 319. Cloth: S$78.90; US$49.90; Paper: S$49.90; US$32.90.

International Labour Organisation (1999), Indonesia: Strategies for Employment-Led Recovery and Reconstruction, Jakarta, pp. 404.     

Book Reviews

Ross H, McLeod (ed.), Indonesia Assessment 1994: Finance as a Key Sector in Indonesia's Development, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1994, pp. 353. $25.00; S$35.00; A$30.00.

Miranda S. Goeltom, Indonesia's Financial Liberalization: An Analysis of 1981–88 Panel Data, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1995, pp. xii + 93.

Joan Hardjono and Charles Warner (eds), In Love with a Nation: Molly Bondan and Indonesia, published by Charles Warner, Picton, NSW, 1995, pp. 256. A$16.95.

ln Love with a Nation is privately published and obtainable from the following Australian suppliers: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe 2037; Nusantara Bookshop, 72 Maroondah Hwy, Croydon 3136; or from Charles Warner, PO Box 194, Picton 2571. (If ordered from Charles Warner, price including postage is AS20 within Australia; A$25 to Europe, America or Africa; A$23 to Asia, Pacific.)     

Book Reviews

Anthony J. Whitten, Sengli J. Damanik, Jazanul Anwar and Nazaruddin Hisyam, The Ecology of Sumatra, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, Second Edition, 1987, pp. 583 + xx.

Christine Drake, National Integration in Indonesia: Patterns and Policies, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989, pp. 354 + xvi. Cloth: US$ 35.00.

Geoffrey B. Hainsworth (ed.), Environmental Linkages, Halifax: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 1985, pp. 97.

R. Repetto et al., Wasting Assets: Natural Resources in the National Income Accounts, Washington DC: World Resources Institute, June 1989, pp. 69 + vi. Paper: US$10.00.

William E. James, Seiji Naya and Gerald M. Meier, Asian Development: Economic Success and Policy Lessons, Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989, pp. 281 + Xviii.

Robert B. Dickie and Thomas A. Layman, Foreign Investment and Government Policy in the Third World: Forging Common Interests in Indonesia and Beyond, London: MacMillan, 1988, pp. 240 + xxxi. £35.

Alan Gelb and Associates, Oil Windfalls: Blessing or Curse? New York: Oxford University Press, for the World Bank, 1988, pp. 357 + x. $32.50.

Benjamin Higgins, The Road Less Travelled: A Development Economist's Quest, History of Development Studies 2, Canberra: National Centre For Development Studies, the Australian National University, pp. 204 + x. Paper: A$20.00

BRIEFLY NOTED: Sarwar Hobohm, Indonesia to 1993: Breakthrough in the Balance, London: Economist Intelligence Unit, Special Report no. 2012, 1989, pp. 91, £190 for this Plus the Companion Report, Indonesia to 1991: Can Momentum be Regained?

Geoffrey Hainsworth and Hasan Poerbo (eds), Local Resource Management: Towards Sustainable Development, Halifax: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 1987, pp. 69 + xii.

H.W. Dick, Industri Pelayaran Indonesia: Kompetisi dan Regulasi, Jakarta: LP3ES, 1990, 306 + xxv.     

Book Reviews

Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, Perkembangan Pemikiran Ekonomi, Buku I: Dasar Teori Dalam Ekonomi Umum [The Development of Economic Thought, Book I: The Theoretical Basis In General Economics], Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 1991, pp. xxviii + 429

Selo Soemardjan, Indonesia: A Socio-Economic Profile, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1988, pp. xi + 162

Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, Australia's Development Cooperation with Indonesia in the Agricultural sector, Volume 1: Main Report, Canberra: AIDAB, April 1991

Colin Barlow, Ria Gondowarsito, A. T. Birowo and S. K. W. Jayasuriya, Development in Eastern Indonesia: The Case of Nusa Tenggara Timur, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1990, pp. v + 110

Jan G. I. Palte, Upland Farming on Java, Indonesia, Nederlandse GeografischeStudies 97, Amsterdam/Utrecht: Royal Dutch Geographical Society and Geographical Institute, University of Utrecht, 1989, pp. 256

Thomas Schweizer, Reisanbau in einem javanischen Dorf [Rice Cultivation in a Javanese Village, Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 1989, pp. xvi + 718

Desmond Ball and Helen Wilson (eds), Strange Neighbours: The Australia-Indonesia Relationship, Sydney and Singapore: Allen and Unwin, 1991, pp. xiv + 268. $24.95

The World Bank, Indonesia: Family Planning Perspectives in the 1990s, Washington D. C.: The world Bank, 1990, pp. xxii + 143

Jan Breman, Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Colonial Asia, Amsterdam: Free University Press for Centre for Asian Studies, 1990, pp. 82, Dfl. 19.50; £9.50

Kenji Tsuchiya, Democracy and Leadership: The Rise of the Taman Siswa Movement in Indonesia, Monographs of the Centre for Southeast Asian studies, Kyoto University, English Language Series, No. 18, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987, pp. xv + 230. US$16.00

BRIEFLY NOTED: Simme Veldman, Route Planning in a Centrally Assisted Liner System, Delft: Eburon, 1990, pp. 230

Richard Robinson, Power and Economy in Suharto's Indonesia, Journal of Contemporary Asia Publishers, Manila and Wollongong, 1990, pp. iv + 207     

Survey of recent developments

In the 15 years since the Asian financial crisis, the Indonesian economy has benefited from a stable macroeconomic policy framework and prudent macroeconomic policy settings. Economic growth has been solid, inflation has been contained and government finances have strengthened. Indonesia weathered the global financial crisis better than many countries, and it subsequently benefited from the low global interest rates resulting from highly stimulatory monetary conditions in many advanced economies, especially the US.

In the middle of 2013, however, speculation on when the US Federal Reserve would begin to unwind its program of quantitative easing saw global interest rates jump. Short-term capital flowed out of Indonesia, causing the stock market to fall, the currency to depreciate and interest rates to rise. On top of this, GDP growth appeared to be slowing, the trade balance worsening and inflation increasing. In late September and October, the failure of the US to raise its legislated debt ceiling led to speculation that it might fail to meet some of its debt obligations, which fuelled financial-market volatility.

It is yet to be seen whether the Indonesian economy and its financial markets are sufficiently flexible to make a smooth transition to the new external reality. The policy tools available to the government to deal with the short-term economic challenges are limited: it introduced an economic policy package in August, and Bank Indonesia (BI) raised official interest rates in August and September, following two increases earlier in the year.

These pressures from global financial markets have drawn attention to the need for further structural reforms in Indonesia, including those aimed at deepening financial markets, strengthening financial-sector supervision, freeing up trade and encouraging competition, and maintaining the government’s revenue base in the face of falling commodity prices. While some reforms, particularly in financial-sector supervision, are already in train, it may be difficult for Indonesia to make serious gains on longer-term economic reforms before the 2014 presidential elections.     

Publications

Sumitro Djojohadikusmo, Indonesia Dalam Perkembungan Dunia: Kini dan Masa Datang [Indonesia in world development: The Present And The Future], Jakarta, LP3ES, 1976, pp. 229.

Indonesia: Business Opportunities in a Resource-Rich Economy, A Business International Asian Research Report, Asian House, Hong Kong, October 1975.

J. Stephen Hoadley, The Military in the Politics of Southeast Asia. A Comparative Perspective, Cambridge, Mass., Schenkman Publishing Co., 1975.

Masashi Nishihara, The Japanese and Sukarno's Indonesia: Tokyo-Jakarta Relations, 1961–1966, Monograph of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1976, pp. 24.