Comments
From: Asian Countries Removing Oil Subsidies
  • adam . # . 1/1
    It was not without protest. There were riots.

    I think it was the right decision, and it did not bring down the government, but Indonesians were never likely to simply take the end of a 30 year tax break on the chin.

    Give me utilitiy or give me something slightly better!
    • cam . # .
      Pundits like Zakaria argue that this maybe better done by a strong arm dictator who is enforcing capitalism; ie Pinochet-style, but in this instance the collective recognition of it being the right policy meant that liberal democracy handled it well.

      I wonder why many assume that liberal democracy is often best added after capitalism when a strong arm has finished implementing those policies.

      There is that individual wealth threshold that Zakaria quoted, IIRC it is about 3K per capita, where liberal democracy becomes more stable after that is reached.

      Don't know.
      'Sworn to no party, and of no sect am I.' Frederick Vosper's republican motto.