As new cases for COVID-19 increased rapidly in Malaysia, the government of this South East Asia nation planned a total lockdown.
It seems to be an understandable decision, though it is not agreed by everyone. Economists in the nation opposed another total lockdown the most, explaining that it could bruise the entire economic system of Malaysia.
Representative from Malaysia Centre for Market Education (CME) said that another lockdown is what a person knowing nothing about the market would do. Instead of locking down entirely, he recommended that Malaysia should adapt to the new situation and live with the virus. He also added that locking down is not a good measure of how well a nation tackle the virus.
From the economic perspective, instead, a decision to completely shut down the economy including manufacturing, can only be driven by a poor understanding of how the economy work. The economy, in fact, cannot be divided into independent sectors; on the contrary, it is an intricate web of connections, in particular human interactions.
Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of CME, said.
Ferlito strongly opposed the locking down idea as he said that this move will affect the entire system of economy. No production will happen if another total lockdown occur. Consequence? It leads to the fact that farming can not as well happen.
“Only a deep misunderstanding of what the economy is can lead to imagine that the economic sectors can be somehow divided into non-communicating groups”, Ferlito said.
Instead of locking down, Ferlito suggested that Malaysia can learn from the lesson of their neighbor, Singapore. Living with the virus and analyzing it carefully are what the CEO of CME recommended.
The economic system of Malaysia used to be in the top 3 most developed nation of South East Asia, but the impact of COVID-19 consequently created the systematic collapse of Malaysian economy.