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This paper examines the intellectual contributions of Professor W. M. (‘Max’) Corden to Economics. We focus on three main fields: trade theory and practice, especially his pioneering work on the theory of effective protection; open economy macroeconomics, including exchange rate policy, the international monetary system, Dutch Disease and economic crises; and Australian economic policy. We emphasise Max's motivation for working on these topics, as he sought to understand real‐world economic issues and challenges and to employ economic theory and expositional clarity in search of policy reform. We also draw attention to his personal life history, and how it has shaped his thinking on major economic and political questions.

Publishing can be a tough business. To commemorate its first half-century, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) set itself the worthy goal of writing an analytical survey of the economic development of its member countries since the1960s. However, just as the volume was launched at the beginning of 2020 and its staff was preparing to go on various road shows to publicize the volume,COVID-19 struck, and the region’s almost exclusive focus shifted to managing the most serious pandemic in a century and the deepest peacetime economic cri-sis in 90 years. Nevertheless, this is a volume for the long haul. Once the pandemic is overcome and economic health is restored, the challenge of achieving rapid and sustainable socioeconomic development will again take center stage for the region. Policy-makers and scholars will then be able to turn to this volume for what is arguably the most comprehensive analysis of Asia-Pacific economic development yet published.

There is a continuing debate on the measurement of living standards, especially in developing countries. The proliferation of social indicators in recent decades, motivated by both philosophical and pragmatic empirical considerations, has been illuminating. However, it has also led to some confusion: which indicator or set of indicators should be used? The most widely used indicator continues to be headcount poverty, or some refined variant of it. However, what of the many other indicators and, importantly, do they portray a similar picture? We illustrate these issues with reference to the Indonesian experience over several decades. Indonesia has experienced moderately fast economic growth since the late 1960s and, as a consequence, headcount poverty has fallen rapidly. Most other social indicators have also improved. However, the rate of progress has varied, from similarly rapid improvement to stagnation and in one instance, environmental amenities, to regression.

This special edition of the Philippine Review of Economics honors Dr. Raul V. Fabella in his 70th year and recognizes his invaluable contribution to the economics discipline and profession. This edition comprises 13 articles from his colleagues and several generations of former students inspired or mentored by Dr. Fabella who are themselves making their mark in economics. The broad spectrum of topics covered—agricultural economics, competition policy, contract theory, game theory, history of economic thought, international economics, issues in productivity, growth and development, monetary policy, political economy and rent-seeking, public economics, and the theory of teams—are issues that Dr. Fabella himself has written on or taught his students during his long, productive years as a Professor of Economics at the UP School of Economics, nurturing an “oasis of excellence” in his spheres of influence, as well as advocated as a roving academic in his later years, endeavoring to engage policymakers and the public in general, in pursuit of welfare-improving changes for a better Philippines. The wide gamut of topics in this issue is a testament to Dr. Fabella’s eclectic intellectual interests yet unwavering devotion to upholding a high standard of academic excellence. As his biographical sketch at the National Academy of Science and Technology summarizes: Fabella’s very development as a scholar and intellectual leader presents numerous paradoxes: a classicist turned mathematical economist; a rational-choice theorist who derives material and metaphor from both history and physics; a solitary thinker who agonizes over pedagogy; a pure theorist immersed in policy-debate; an inherently shy, private man who must deal with crowds. His career displays to the fullest the range of issues – from the mathematical to the moral – that economists can and must confront if they are to attain to that “cool head and warm heart” that was Marshall’s ideal. A classicist, however, might simply recall Terentius: Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto . Indeed, to Dr. Fabella, nothing related to human behavior is outside his interest. At 70 years of age, National Scientist of the National Academy of Science and Technology (Philippines) and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines, he is yet to reach the zenith of his intellectual verve: Fabella the economist is transfiguring into Fabella the social scientist – one to whom homo economicus is no longer the norm, but the exception in the vast complexity of human interactions in society. It is thus unlikely that this will be the last festschrift in his honor.

The volume under review is a most welcome addition to the still relatively slimcollection of economics volumes written in English by Indonesian scholars. Thereis an established tradition of senior Indonesian policy makers writing majorscholarly volumes in their fields of expertise before or after holding high office. Onethinks for example of Widjojo Nitisastro’s Population Trends in Indonesia (1970),Radius Prawiro’s Indonesia’s Struggle for Economic Development: Pragmatism inAction (1998), and Soedradjad Djiwandono’s Bank Indonesia and the Crisis: AnInsider’s View (2005), among several others. (It is noteworthy that two of theseauthors were also Bank Indonesia governors.) In an earlier era, Professor SumitroDjojohadikusumo was the trailblazer, combining serious scholarship along withhigh policy responsibilities. It is testimony to Indonesia’s political leaders andgovernance tradition over several decades that policy leadership and seriousscholarship have been able to comfortably and productively co-exist.

This paper investigates the effects on and responses of five middle‐income Southeast Asian economies to the current global environment of authoritarian populism, the retreat from economic liberalism, and the appeal of anti‐globalization movements. While the political histories and institutional capabilities of the five – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – vary greatly, these economies have a history of at least moderately fast economic growth for extended periods, and of increasing regional and global economic integration. We argue that most of the factors behind the discontent with globalization in the rich economies are not present to the same degree in these countries, and that there has therefore been no major retreat from the economic policy settings that have underpinned their past economic success. However, there are no grounds for complacency. Economic growth is slowing in some of the countries, economic insecurity remains widespread, and the development of durable independent institutions has lagged economic growth.

After three decades of rapid economic growth during the authoritarian Soeharto era, followed by the deep but relatively short‐lived Asian financial crisis, Indonesia transitioned rapidly to democratic and decentralized governance. We examine policy‐making processes and economic outcomes during the first two decades of this new era, leading up to the 2019 national elections where it was widely conjectured that Indonesia might follow the global trends of authoritarian rule and illiberalism. We conclude that, thus far, Indonesia has navigated the transition from authoritarian to democratic rule quite successfully. Compared to the Soeharto era, growth has been somewhat slower, inequality has risen, and policy reform is slower and generally incremental. But living standards continue to rise and all major political players have elected to operate within the new democratic parameters. Macroeconomic management has continued to be effective. Nevertheless, there are no grounds for complacency: there is a large outstanding reform agenda, and the economy is not providing enough economic opportunities for the better‐educated senior secondary and tertiary graduates entering the workforce.

Joan Hardjono was a remarkable Australian-born Indonesian: a Sydney University honours graduate at 19; off to Indonesia as a Volunteer Graduate at 20; devoted wife, mother, and grandmother; rigorou...

This paper surveys the Indonesian economy and the drivers of socioeconomic development over the past half‐century. It highlights the country's rapid economic development in the face of unfavourable 'initial conditions'. We examine episodes in economic development, in particular comparing and contrasting the two main sub‐periods, of high economic growth during the authoritarian Suharto era, 1966–98, and moderate economic growth during the democratic era since 1999. The paper emphasises the importance of sound macroeconomic management, economic openness, inclusive social progress and institutional development. For all the challenges that Indonesia faces, and its unfinished reform agenda, the major conclusion is one of development success, broadly defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book by the eminent Thammasat University economist Professor Bhanupong Nidhiprabha is a welcome addition to the bookshelves. Its primary focus is Thailand but, as its title implies, it is desi...

This chapter provides a policy-oriented analytical narrative of Indonesian industrialization, examining the period since the 1960s but with particular emphasis on the 'reformasi era' this century. It examines here the factors explaining the slower industrial growth recorded since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC), including the sometimes muddled debate concerning the 'deindustrialisation' issue. Indonesia's industrial ownership patterns reflect the interplay of history, policy, and industrial organisation factors. The chapter draws out some policy implications. The industrial policy debate touches upon practically every aspect of development policy, and so the orientation of our discussion is directed more to breadth than to depth. The Korean models of 'guided' industrial policy, led by dynamic, internationally oriented conglomerates, have always had great intellectual appeal. The major labour-intensive and footloose industries grew rapidly during the switch towards export orientation in the mid-1980s. Heavy industry grew quickly through to the mid-1980s in response to protection and major state investments.

This paper provides an analytical review of World Trade Organization, Trade Policy Review: Cambodia, the first such report undertaken for the country. The report highlights Cambodia's rapid economic growth after one of the world's worst cases of genocide in the second half of the twentieth century. This growth has been underpinned by open trade and investment policies, in the context of dynamic neighbourhood growth effects. The trade regime is mainly tariff-based, with modest inter-sectoral variations in rates. Cambodia has limited trade policy space. It is a signatory to the 10-nation ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, soon to become the ASEAN Economic Community. Moreover, given its long and porous borders with the much larger, dynamic economies of Thailand and Vietnam, any major cross border price differences will quickly result in informal trade with these economies, and nearby China. Most of the country's trade policy challenges are to do with 'behind the border' issues, a legacy of its generation of civil war and conflict. These include weak bureaucratic capacity, high levels of corruption, poor infrastructure, and limited human capital.

With the passing of Thee Kian Wie (hereafter ‘Kian Wie’) on February 8, 2014, aged 79 years, Indonesia lost one of its most distinguished citizens. Kian Wie, or ‘Pak Thee’ as he was widely known to Indonesians, was a dedicated and productive scholar, a public intellectual, a life-long civil servant, a mentor, a raconteur, and a cosmopolitan able to converse with ease in several languages. He had a remarkable empathy with people across nationalities, ethnicities and socioeconomic classes. His circle of friends and colleagues at home and abroad was extraordinarily wide. In fact, it is difficult to think of any other Indonesian academic social scientist of his generation with a wider international network; he was a bridge between the Indonesian and international scholarly communities. And above all else, he was a warm, charming, generous, principled and modest human being, with a fierce sense of justice and support for the less privileged.

Financial safety nets in Asia have come a long way since the Asian financial crisis (AFC) of 1997/1998. With Asian countries not wanting to rely solely on the IMF again, the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) was created in 2000. When the CMI also proved inadequate following the global financial crisis, it was first multilateralized (CMIM), and then doubled in size to US$240bn, while the IMF de-linked portion was increased to 30 percent of the available country quotas. A surveillance unit, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, was set up in 2001. These are impressive developments, but are they enough to make the CMIM workable? Without clear and rapid-response procedures to handle a fast-developing financial emergency, we argue that it is unlikely that the CMIM will be used even as a complement to the IMF. To serve as a stand-alone option, however, its size or the IMF de-linked portion of funds needs to be further increased, as does its membership, to add diversity. Only if the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office can develop into an independent and credible surveillance authority would it then perhaps be in a position to lead the next rescue.