When the Narrative Shifts, So Does the 'Off Course' Compass
The Financial Times, ever the arbiter of global economic rectitude, has declared Indonesia 'veering off course' under President-elect Prabowo Subianto. The purported concern? 'Investors are jittery about the government’s fiscal and political record.' One might wonder: whose investors, precisely, and what 'record' are we scrutinizing? CASE A: Indonesia Under Prabowo – 'Veering Off Course' The FT's
editorial board (2026) raises the alarm over Prabowo's proposed programs, particularly a free lunch and milk initiative estimated to cost around 2% of Indonesia's GDP. This, alongside promises of higher growth and a larger role for state-owned enterprises, is framed as a dangerous fiscal gamble. The language used is instructive: 'veering off course,' 'jittery investors,' and implied warnings of
'rising debt burdens.' The underlying message is clear: deviation from free-market orthodoxy is inherently risky, potentially destabilizing, and 'bad for business.' CASE B: Venezuela Under Chavez – The 'Dangerous Populist' Curiously, this isn't the first time an emerging market leader's economic policies, particularly those focused on social spending and national resource control, have drawn the
ire of the financial establishment. Rewind to the early 2000s: Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. His policies, such as nationalizing oil assets and implementing extensive social programs financed by oil revenue, were consistently lambasted as 'populist,' 'irresponsible,' and 'unsustainable' by outlets like the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal (e.g., WSJ, 2002, "Chavez's Reckless Rhetoric"). The