The Economy is not a cake.

Now I don't wanna remark one way or the other about any specific, politicians or political parties in Malaysia, but the viral exchange that took place between Anwar Ibrahim and Najeeb Barazaki in their recent debate deserves some comment. Not about the men themselves, but about the concepts behind what was said. Najib said that the economy is like an expanding cake that everyone can eat from. And Anwar answered something along the lines of, yeah, you shouldn't eat it all by yourself. Okay.

So first of all, this whole framework of discussing the economy originated in China in what's called the cake debate. It reflects a Chinese way or rather a communist party of China's way of looking at the economy or more precisely the CCP's way of looking at wealth. And just as in the recent debate, the debate in China takes basically two different positions. One is the idea that the government should emphasize expanding the cake, I e through development and so on. And the other side says that no matter how big the cake is, the emphasis of the government should be on distributing that cake fairly.

But both views here are basically seeing the nation's economy as a consumable good, but a nation's economy is more than its GDP. Going with the cake analogy, the economy is not a cake, it's more of a bakery. From an Islamic perspective and in basic economics, a healthy economy is not judged by the wealth it produces nor by whether or not there is income disparity or equality. A healthy economy is one in which money circulates widely and continuously. There's no private hoarding.

There are no monopolies. The basic needs of all citizens are met. It is broadly speaking self sufficient, and everyone in the society has access to opportunities in accordance with their abilities. Foreigners do not wield disproportionate control over economic policy nor do local elites, and the state manages and allocates resources exclusively for the purpose of maintaining the society's security and stability and the general welfare. That's a healthy economy.

It's not about accumulating or distributing the wealth produced by an economy. It's about having an economy that empowers the citizens with the tools and options necessary for creating wealth themselves and removing whatever obstacles there may be that prevent them from doing so. I would argue that it's very dangerous for anyone to view the economy or the wealthy producers as a cake that politicians can either consume or distribute as they see fit.