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Indonesia’s richest just crossed a new milestone: collective fortunes climbed to about $306 billion this year, up sharply from $263 billion as Indonesia’s benchmark stock index surged roughly 17 percent. That kind of market dynamism should be celebrated — it’s proof that entrepreneurs and investors still move capital where opportunity and hard work meet. Americans who believe in free enterprise ought to tip their hats to that kind of private-sector creation of wealth.
But the story also exposes the thin line between sensible market reform and heavy-handed intervention. Jakarta’s financial regulator is moving to raise the minimum free-float requirement for listed companies in stages to 25 percent from the current 7.5 percent, pitched as a way to attract foreign investors and deepen markets. Conservatives should welcome transparency and liquidity, yet remain skeptical of one-size-fits-all mandates that can distort ownership rights and drive capital to friendlier jurisdictions.
The usual suspects remain at the top, with brothers R. Budi and Michael Hartono holding onto the No. 1 spot at $43.8 billion, even as their combined fortunes fell by $6.5 billion amid a 15 percent slide in their bank’s shares. These fluctuations are a blunt reminder that markets punish uncertainty — especially uncertainty born of muddled fiscal and monetary policy. If governments want a thriving private sector, they must stop monkeying with policies that spook lenders and savers.
Meanwhile, new winners are emerging from genuine market demand rather than political patronage: data center founders catapulted into the top ten after a boom in digital infrastructure, and industrial investments in renewables helped other families vault up the list. That is the kind of innovation conservatives should champion — private capital building the backbone of civilization, not bureaucrats picking winners. Celebrate the risk-takers who invest in factories, power and data, because that’s how nations get rich.
Still, concentration of wealth and opaque ties between elites and the state deserve scrutiny; half the tycoons on the list saw gains, but the minimum net worth to make the list actually dropped to about $920 million, a sign that volatility can cut both ways. We can admire successful entrepreneurs without romanticizing their paths if those paths involve sweetheart deals or regulatory capture. The conservative case is straightforward: keep the rule of law strong, stop rewarding cronies, and let the market sort winners from losers.
For hardworking Americans watching from afar, Indonesia’s year holds a lesson and a warning: markets lift lives when governments clear the runway, not when they clutter it with mandates and favors. If Jakarta wants sustainable growth, policymakers should focus on property rights, predictable rules, and lower barriers to honest competition — not arbitrary ownership quotas that can backfire. That’s the conservative prescription for any country that wants real, lasting prosperity born of liberty and enterprise.
