There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in
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Kopi Luwak is selling well

Would you pay US$175 for a pound of coffee beans which had passed through the bottom of a furry mammal in Indonesia? Probably not. But some people, incredibly, are. 

The coffee beans, which have a unique taste and aroma thanks to passing through the digestive system of palm civets (nocturnal tree-climbing creatures about the size of a large house cat), are being snapped up by foreign buyers. 

According to a company which has recently ventured into this niche market, its sales for Kopi Luwak rose threefold just before the Christmas holiday compared to the first half of the year.

Kopi LuwakAnd this year, the company hopes to export around 200 pounds of Kopi Luwak, even though it holds the distinction of being the world’s most expensive coffee. As for me, I’ve never tried Kopi Luwak. But maybe I should give it a try...

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