Indonesia is often viewed as a country with substantial natural resources which has achieved solid economic growth since the 1960s, but which still faces serious economic challenges. In 2010, its per capita GDP was only nineteen per cent of that of the Netherlands, and twenty-two per cent of that of Japan. In recent decades, per capita GDP has fallen behind that of neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, and behind China. In this accessible but thorough new study, Anne Booth explains the long-term factors which have influenced Indonesian economic performance, taking into account the Dutch colonial legacy and the reaction to it after the transfer of power in 1949. The first part of the book offers a chronological study of economic development from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, while the second part explores topics including the persistence of economic nationalism and the ongoing tensions between Indonesia's diverse regions.

‘Booth deploys her deep and sustained knowledge to trace Indonesia’s seventy year transition, from colonization and conflict to middle-income and membership in the G-20 group of leading world economies. She combines narrative economic history with rigorous yet accessible analysis of major economic and development challenges, including nation-building, poverty alleviation, democratization, and interactions with volatile world markets. This masterful account should become the go-to source on the development of the modern Indonesian economy.’

Ian Coxhead - University of Wisconsin, Madison

‘Anne Booth is an eminent economic historian with a profound understanding of the complexity of economic and social challenges in Indonesia. This book contains her carefully professional assessment of Indonesia’s economic progress over more than a century. The book offers valuable lessons from history for anyone who is interested in learning about key development challenges and the changing role of government in Indonesia.'

Siwage Dharma Negara - Indonesian Institute of Sciences

‘Anne Booth has written an authoritative and penetrating account of how Indonesia’s economy has undergone dramatic change in recent decades. With her superior knowledge of Indonesian economic history both in colonial times and since independence, she provides a compelling and insightful analysis of Indonesia’s great economic potentials and its long-term resilience to short-run economic failure. Compulsory reading for students of Indonesian economic history and the Indonesian economy today.’

Thomas Lindblad Source: Leiden University

‘Anne Booth writes with great authority across a broad canvas in this magisterial work on Indonesian economic history. The volume will certainly come to be regarded as the seminal work on the subject, combining rigorous analysis, careful empirics and insightful 'big picture' judgements.’

Hal Hill - Australian National University, Canberra

'Anne Booth has once again written an authoritative, comprehensive economic history of Indonesia. … there is much to recommend here. Scholars of Indonesia will greatly appreciate Booth’s balanced and commanding evaluation of key economic debates in Indonesia to which the book’s second half is devoted. For those with less prior knowledge of the country and who are looking for an incisive introduction, a careful reading of Economic Change in Modern Indonesia will be richly rewarding.'

James S. Davidson Source: Journal of Southeast Asian Economies