The Indonesian Economy in Transition

By any indicator, Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation on earth, is a development success story. Yet 20 years after a deep economic and political crisis, it is still in some respects an economy in transition. The country recovered from the 1997-98 crisis and navigated the path from authoritarian to democratic rule surprisingly quickly and smoothly. It survived the 2008-09 global financial crisis and the end of the China-driven commodity super boom in 2014 with little difficulty. It is now embarking on its fifth round of credible national elections in the democratic era. It is in the process of graduating to the upper middle-income ranks. But, as the 25 contributors to this comprehensive and compelling volume document, Indonesia also faces many daunting challenges - how to achieve faster economic growth along with more attention to environment sustainability, how to achieve more equitable development outcomes, how to develop and nurture stronger institutional foundations, and much else. This is a timely and much-needed book. There are very few recent books on Indonesia with such a comprehensive analysis of not just mainstream economic policies, but also most importantly the key issues of human capital, inequality, social welfare, labour, food security and natural resource management. This book will not only be crucial for policy discourse but for all stakeholders who care about Indonesia making the transition not only to a high-income economy, but an inclusive one. - Mari Pangestu, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia The Indonesian Economy in Transition: Policy Challenges in the Jokowi Era and Beyond is one of the most important books that discusses the Indonesian economy post-Asian Financial Crisis. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Indonesian economy. - M. Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance of Indonesia