The appointment of Thomas Djiwandono, a nephew of President Prabowo Subianto, as deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, has raised the specter of nepotism making a comeback in Indonesian politics. 

Whether through corruption, a lack of risk assessment or a desire for short-term financial gains, the "danger zones" are wiped off the map until the earth reclaims them.

To turn Indonesia’s natural wealth into resilient prosperity, we must move beyond the vocabulary of net-zero and close the critical gap between ambitious policy and the human capability to execute it.

Even though board members are claimed to be independent, they are often friends, associates or well-wishers of the owners and CEOs.

Social protection and education policies must be integrated to ensure that the most vulnerable do not fall through the cracks and end up being denied their fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed right through systemic exclusion.

Taxing extreme wealth is not only necessary to prevent 21st-century Caesarism but also essential to saving democracy.

That President Prabowo himself felt compelled to personally justify the decision, after it had been made, already tells us what this membership really is.

Indonesia is facing a credibility test. And credibility, once questioned, is costly to rebuild.

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has temporarily frozen Indonesia’s February market status review and warned of a potential downgrade from Emerging Market to Frontier Market, citing persistent structural and governance weaknesses in the equity market. Key concerns include opaque ownership structures, limited disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners, and significant price distortions in several heavily weighted stocks, particularly conglomerate- and state-owned enterprise-linked names, which have pushed the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) higher without corresponding improvements in fundamentals.

In recent years, we have seen the civic space shrinking, undermining the quality of democracy. The press can help to stop and reverse the trend.

As Indonesia invests in high-speed rail, a quieter revolution in micro-mobility and former rail corridors could shape how growth, jobs and everyday life unfold along Java’s emerging mega-urban corridor.

By turning savers into stakeholders, Indonesia is building a market owned by its people, resilient to external shocks, and worthy of the economic sovereignty that Danantara is mandated to protect.

As AI threatens to hollow out the middle of Indonesia's labor market, state policies must pivot from cost-cutting automation toward a human-centered pathway of skill-based hiring and high-value augmentation.

We are witnessing a "soft kill" of university innovators, not by policy, but by a measurement system that renders entrepreneurial labor invisible. It’s time to move toward a differentiated academic career path.

The National Police appear increasingly emboldened in their bid to consolidate power, as the House of Representatives signals growing support for the force despite persistent public demands for comprehensive reform. Even recent rulings by the Constitutional Court, intended to restrict active-duty officers from holding civilian posts, now seem likely to be circumvented by an unholy alliance of legislative and security interests.

The government, regional administrations, communities and all other stakeholders must maintain momentum in its fight against stunting as an integral factor in achieving national goals, including Golden Indonesia 2045.

Indonesian tourism must move away from a reactive model that only responds to organic virality, such as the "aura farming" trend of the Pacu Jalur longboat races in Riau. 

The renewed momentum was widely viewed as a sign of stabilization after years of disruption.

In a departure from the past politics of cynicism, Filipinos need one based on hope that comes with concrete policies to address genuine problems in building our nation.

The Sumatra disaster in late November indicates that judicial and law enforcement reform is needed to treat environmental destruction and damage as criminal violations, as well as to create a clear and transparent mechanism for the use of related compensation funds.

The MSCI warning is not solely about IDX governance, it is amplified by the broader environment in which US fiduciaries may actively seek exit ramps from emerging market exposure that carries an additional compliance burden.

Soebandrio was a stalwart advocate for Indonesian sovereignty during the revolutionary period.

Doubling the equity limit for insurers and pension funds to 20 percent from currently 8 percent can be either a bold boost for market stability or a dangerous gamble with institutional solvency. However, "flexibility" might be a double-edged sword that threatens to undermine asset-liability matching and trigger a capital-requirement crisis.

After “greedynomics”, a new label has entered Indonesia’s political–economic vocabulary: “Prabowonomics”. The term made its global debut at the World Economic Forum, where President Prabowo Subianto presented it as the guiding framework for Indonesia’s economic trajectory. While narratives can be curated for international audiences, economic outcomes cannot be scripted. The central question is therefore not how persuasive the narrative sounds, but whether Prabowonomics reflects genuine structural progress or merely repackages ambition and political symbolism in the absence of measurable results.

While the Prabowo government may seek to avoid economic "punishment" through proximity to the Trump administration, our national dignity and strategic independence are at stake.

The year is already so jarring that many in markets barely have time to digest one seismic news event from Washington before another one hits. But a dollar risk premium appears to be rebuilding regardless, most clearly in last week's sudden swoon.

The deal will affect a combined population of 2 billion people across economies representing about a quarter of global GDP.