How Big was Indonesia's "Real" Colonial Surplus in 1878-1941
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3986641 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alec Gordon (0000-0003-1710-4642, Chulalongkorn University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 560-580 |
| Publication date | 2012-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00472336.2012.706482 |
| OpenAlex | W2017146272 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 11 |
Colonial surplus is usually taken to be the income transferred overseas from a colony measured through international exchange items in the balance of payments or the much less satisfactory export surplus. Those international exchange items for colonial Indonesia for 1878 to 1941 calculated at 23.5 billion guilders turn out to be much greater than in previous estimates. This article analyses non-international exchange items, such as incomes earned in the colony by foreigners but not transferred abroad and the very great amounts comprising the budget of the colonial government. If we add such items to the existing "normal" calculation of the colonial surplus the already large amounts become enormous. The views of the few observers who have reflected on Indonesia's colonial surplus and who have minimised it are assessed and rejected. One must then ask why most historians of Indonesia have ignored those amounts in assessing the impact of colonialism. That this "new" surplus is designated "real" does not mean other estimates are "unreal" but is used to indicate the size of amounts previously missed. This, real colonial surplus for Indonesia is in the region of 54 billion guilders or about US$22 billion. Roughly in today's terms those amount to US$398 billion or even as much as US$5123 billion depending on the conversion rate used
Balance of payments · Colonialism · Economic history · Economic surplus · Economics · Government (linguistics · International economics · Market economy · Political science · Welfare · Asian Studies and History · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Law
Inequality in late colonial Indonesia
Political Dependence and Economic Exploitation
Dépendance politique et exploitation économique
Health equity and the global social contract
Colonialist primitive accumulation
Colonialism, Capitalism and Racism
A Last Word
Reverse Flow Foreign Investment
Globalisation, Inequality and Institutions in West Sumatra and West Java, 1800-1940
The Late Colonial State and Economic Expansion, 1900–1930s
Changing Economy in Indonesia
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
Parlementaire Geschiedenis van Nederlandsch-Indië 1891–1918
Halting Progress
The real domestic product of Indonesia, 1880–1989
National income of the Netherlands Indies 1921–1939
Netherlands East Indies
Dutch Income in and from Indonesia 1700-1938
The Recent Development of Economic Foreign Policy in the Netherlands East Indies
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |