In Reply to: WHAT IF posted by KPL on Saturday, 29. October 2005 at 17:47 Bali Time:
Not in any real sense, anyway. Australia's economy is a few hundred people plus a few thousand more to a lesser extent, and then millions who are pretty much not involved in it.
Same goes for Indonesia. When the foreign exchange reserves got low a few months back and the Rupe went spiralling down, SBY called a dozen or so blokes into his office and got them to shift some bucks back to Indonesia. These dozen odd blokes control half of Indonesia's locally-owned economy. Of course a fair slab of it is foreign-owned, and much of what people spend in Bali is actually helping Australia's economy. Among others.
If people only wanted cheap food and other stuff, Bali is the last place in Indonesia they should be. It's by far the most expensive island in Indonesia. I think a lot of people stick to Bali simply because they know they can at least find some of their own countrymen there if things go wrong or they suffer culture shock. I think it's the blend of being totally immersed in another culture coupled with the safety of knowing you can get out of it whenever you like that is the big attraction of all major holiday destinations.
You can even go to a different country with a vastly different history and culture and never have to do anything you wouldn't do at home anyway. Yet that can cost at least as much as a holiday in Australia. People sometimes do it anyway. So maybe it's just the weather.
Also, Bali might be a cheap place to survive in, but if you're really living it can be expensive. And people tend to do stuff like diving, rafting, bungy jumping and a host of other things that come with western-style price-tags. Plus taking taxis several times a day adds up. Not to mention that it's common to find a few new friends who each bring a few more friends along which means that a few cheap drinks suddenly turns into a hefty bill with more zeros than you can comprehend.
I don't even shop, really, but I can go through cash pretty quickly while I'm thinking everything is cheap. Part of the magic of the island.