More questionable is whether the project’s ambition is matched by its wisdom. Danantara has no discernible macroeconomic purpose. Rather it is one of a new breed of trophy SWFs — such as the UK’s National Wealth Fund and a possible US fund from the Trump administration — created largely for the sake of having them. Everybody wants sovereignty. Everybody wants wealth. Yet while a fund is a fine way to manifest them, it is not, sadly, a reliable route to their creation.

1. Reverse Dutch Disease (#877076): Windfall from natural resources, spread value over time. Example: Norway.
2. Commodity exporter: stabilize revenue when a specific commodity is crucial to the country's economy. Example: Chile.
3. To fund a public pension system: accumulate assets over time against future liabilities. Example: Japan.
4. FX boosted exports... fix the currency at artificially low rates (#747181) to boost your exports. Result: vast accumulation of foreign assets. Example: China.

"It's nice to have a box!"

it’s nice to have a box, especially a box with a lot of money in it. Creation of the box is an accomplishment a politician can point to. It is exciting for the people who get to run it. The box can be used to solve problems, political, economic and otherwise. The box can be benign — there is a future where clever, disinterested, long-term investment by Danantara helps to make Indonesia a more prosperous place. Or the box can turn malignant, as in the infamous case of 1MDB, the Malaysian fund from which billions of dollars were embezzled.