Non-use values

Attended a meeting on "Road Map for Indonesian Forestry" -- or something like that. I was bothered by the way some people calculate non-use values of forestry. Well, in fact, they did not calculate or estimate them. They took them from studies published some years ago, and simply normalized them with 2000 dollar prices. They did not consider growth rate of the forest. Not to mention damage rate. I was worried because the values are pooled in one table along with the use-values -- also combination of previous studies' figures. Forest grows (or dies). You can't simply normalize its value.

Back now

More than two weeks since I last blogged. Partly because this whole resettlement takes time. Other, extremely slow e-connection. I have talked with several people, and they agreed this is a national problem. There are only 3 main providers that serve the internet in the country. Bottleneck in the gate.

Anyway, I haven't really tuned in to the country's economic problems. But it is obvious that Rupiah has been very volatile lately due to the oil price ups-downs, and presidential election. An editorial in Kompas yesterday said: "Market, please do not overreact". What in the world is that? An analyst also said, "Government should tell government enterprises not to demand too much dollars" -- what a wishful thinking (and stupid, too).