Winters' wordplay amuses forum

JAKARTA: It turns out that Jeffrey Winters is not all serious, despite his expertise in political economy.

Rather, the professor from Yale University, known for his enlightening insights into the political economy, revealed another side during a discussion on the Indonesian economy at the Press Council Building in Jakarta on Thursday.

His wordplay and quirky metaphors kept the audience well entertained.

"Indonesia is like a heavy weight boxer that still chooses to play light weight," Winters said, adding that the country was actually on par with rising economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

"For me, Indonesia is the missing BRIC," he said in a clever pun.

Winters also highlighted how Indonesia stubbornly chose to stick to its "economic doctors", the term he used to describe the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"Do you need another 40 years to prove that your doctors have failed?" he asked. "It's like asking where to put a band-aid on a patient with cancer."

Having been closely acquainted with Indonesia in the mid-1990s, Winters has written several books on the country's political scene, including Power in Motion: Capital Mobility and the Indonesia State" and Political Sins of Suharto's New Order. - JP