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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10 things Indonesia and the US have in common

1. Lack of universal healthcare. In a developing country like Indonesia that’s understandable, in the world’s richest country it’s scandalous. 

 2. People don’t steal supermarket trolleys like they do in the UK. 

 3. The emergence from time to time of quirky religious cults which spook the establishment – perhaps cos it’s just a bit too close to looking in the mirror. After all, just how crazy can someone be to self proclaim themselves as a prophet in this day and age? 

 4. Phallic presidential monuments. Who’s the biggest stud, Sukarno or Washington? 

 5. The death penalty unfortunately. 


 7. Under strength yet eminently drinkable “B” rated beers – Budweiser and Bintang. 

 8. Bribery – in Indonesia they call it suap; in America it’s called lobbying… 

 9. A lack of commitment to reducing Co2 emissions. 

 10. And of course – former political leaders with a love of beautiful women…

 Where shall we go tonight? 

Other lists 

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