Not long ago, I finished one of the most talked-about books among economists: “The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy” by Mariana Mazzucato. In my view, through this book, Mazzucato attempts to provide a critique of capitalism (or, more broadly, the “marginalist view”) without declaring capitalism a failed system.
Today I saw on Twitter some concern over a Kompas article. The article reported that Indonesia would continue exporting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The context is, of course, COVID-19: amid a pandemic, Indonesia itself needs a lot of PPE. How can we be exporting to other countries?
COVID-19 appears to still be ongoing. The latest update puts us at 686 cases. As testing increases, cases will rise even faster. Even with the current situation, our healthcare workers are struggling with a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as hazmat suits and masks.
I believe much has already been said about COVID-19’s impact on both health and the economy. The latest I read was the macroeconomic impact of COVID-19 according to Professor McKibbin and his student Fernando’s model. They use several shocks, including reduced labor supply, increased risk premia, and higher production costs. All of these are naturally relevant, especially for manufacturing, which makes work from home difficult since factory workers must operate machinery on-site.
Hey folks. It’s been a long time since I’ve updated the blog. Things have been pretty crazy. All because of COVID-19.
As you may know, this novel coronavirus has sent the whole world into a frenzy. The problems caused by the virus have been changing so fast, much faster than governments and ordinary people can react. When COVID-19 first started making headlines, I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. All I could do was watch the news. I’m currently in Australia, but half my mind is in Depok, where my family lives, especially my mother who is 70++. All I can do is offer prayers and support for my sibling who helps take care of our mother’s needs.
World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The organization has sent letters to inform global leaders to prepare themselves for the worst to come, including our very leader Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Jokowi’s way of handling the pandemic so far has been receiving criticism for not doing (professionally) enough, with some Some even suggest a lockdown.
Hi everyone. In this post, I will continue from my previous post on Industrial Policy which argued that to advance the manufacturing sector, Indonesia needs more than just the Ministry of Industry. Could it be that the targets set by the Ministry of Industry are too macro – not specific enough?
The world is in turmoil due to the emergence of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The virus first broke out in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), specifically in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, at the start of the year just as the Chinese Lunar New Year was about to begin. As of this writing, the WHO reports 88,948 confirmed cases worldwide, of which 80,174 are in the PRC (see this for real-time statistics). The entire world faces high risk from COVID-19, including Indonesia.
DISCLAIMER: This post reflects purely the author’s personal opinion, written casually, and does not represent the views of any institution.
Not long ago, the internet was abuzz with the government’s plan to block mobile phones that are unregistered, i.e., not officially imported. Every phone has an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) – essentially an ID card for phones – and phones without registered IMEI numbers are considered Black Market (BM) phones and cannot be used in Indonesia. Some coverage of this regulation can be found at Tirto, Liputan 6, and Kompas, among other outlets.
Another week, another trade related post! Recently, netizens were startled (again) by news that Indonesia would import chicken from Brazil. This was the result of Brazil filing a dispute against Indonesia at the WTO for blocking Brazilian chicken imports, and Indonesia lost. This means Indonesia must relax its chicken import restrictions.