Growth Figures Alone Are Not Enough, FEM IPB University Academics Examine the Concept of Marketomics
Rising economic growth is often seen as an indicator that the economy is moving in a positive direction. However, are these figures sufficient to explain the quality of life for the people and the economy’s resilience going forward?
This question serves as the starting point for the concept of “marketomics,” an approach that encourages a broader interpretation of the economy rather than relying solely on indicators.
During Strategic Discussion Series #2, hosted by the Faculty of Economics and Management at IPB University, IPB academics and economists explored the concept of marketomics.
Speaker Ir Budi Purwanto, ME, explained that marketomics is not intended to replace market economics, but rather to broaden the questions traditionally used in analyzing the economy.
“While conventional approaches often emphasize efficiency and price as the primary signals, marketomics seeks to examine other dimensions such as value, risk, learning, adaptation, and sustainability,” he elaborated.
In his presentation, he highlighted three tendencies that make economic analysis incomplete. First, when indicators are treated as the ultimate goal rather than as tools to achieve development. Second, when stability is understood as an end in itself, rather than as a foundation for progress and growth. Third, when high market activity is equated with well being.
“Numbers are accurate, but they are not enough. The economy must not only be efficient but also capable of surviving, adapting, learning, and maintaining trust,” he stated.
Through marketomics, he continued, the market is understood not merely as a space for transactions but as an interconnected system. “ Prices remain important, but they are not the only signal. Many risks and vulnerabilities actually emerge earlier before they are ultimately reflected in formal indicators,” he emphasized.
According to him, this concept also promotes a multi-signal market reading, interpreting the market through various signals simultaneously, and emphasizes the interconnections between product markets, labor markets, and capital markets in shaping the flow of economic value.
Responding to this idea, Dr Suharno, serving as a discussant, noted that marketomics is better understood as a framework that broadens economic perspectives rather than as a new economic theory.
“The next important question is not only what marketomics aims to explain, but also how the concept can be measured and tested empirically,” said the lecturer from the Department of Agribusiness at IPB University.
Meanwhile, Prof Yusman Syaukat, a full professor in the Department of Resource and Environmental Economics at IPB University, views marketomics as an effort to address the limitations of economic indicators in capturing social reality more comprehensively.
“Although it still requires conceptual and methodological refinement, this idea opens up a new perspective: that understanding the economy requires looking not only at prices and growth but also at the value generated and the system’s ability to withstand future challenges,” he explained. (Ez) (IAAS/WSG)
