Sempurna dengan Ilmu dan Hikmah

269. Allah memberikan hikmah kepada siapa yang dikehendaki-Nya. Dan barangsiapa yang diberi hikmah, sungguh telah diberi kebajikan yang banyak. Dan tak ada yang dapat mengambil pelajaran kecuali orang-orang yang berakal. (QS. 2:269)

KESEMPURNAAN IMAN DAN TAKWA tidak akan tercapai tanpa ilmu dan hikmah. Bahkan, ilmu dan hikmah adalah pintu gerbang kepada segala kebaikan dan kesempurnaan. Tanpa keduanya, iman dan Islam akan terkubur. Pada hari ini, umat Islam sudah mulai menjadi lemah. Mereka lemah dalam segala aspek kehidupan termasuk agama.

ILMU PALING TINGGI

Imam ghazali di dalam Ihya Ulumuddin pada bab Uraian Keajaiban Hati berkata, "Hati memerlukan ilmu dan hikmah agar dengannya nafsu shwat dan marah dapat dikekang untuk melaksanakan perkara-perkara yang bermanfaat saja. Ilmu yanng paling utama ialaah ilmu tentang Allah serta keagungannya. Penguasaan ilmu ini daaan keyakinan yang lahir darinya berbeda antara orang yang satu dengan yang lainnya. Pada tingkat awal, ilmu ini diperoleh berdasarkan usaha dan kesungguhan sehingga seseorang mengenali sifat-sifat yang wajib, mustahhil dan harus bagi ALlah. Di tahap yang paling tinggi, ilmu dan keyakinan terhadap Allah terhasil berdasarkan penglihatan mata hati yang dikurniakan oleh Allah.

Mereka yang tidak mengenali Allah akan mewarisi penyakit sombong dan takabur yang membinasakan. Contohnya, Raja Namrud Raja Babilon yang soombong dengan kekuasaannya sehingga dia merasakan dia berkuasa seperti Allah karena kononnya, dia dapat menghiduppkan daan mematikan. Allah menyatakan dalam surat Al-Baqarah ayat 258

258. Apakah kamu tidak memperhatikan orang yang mendebat Ibrahim tentang Rabbnya (Allah) karena Allah telah memberikan kepada orang itu pemerintahan (kekuasaan). Ketika Ibrahim mengatakan: Rabbku ialah yang menghidupkan dan mematikan. Orang itu berkata: Saya dapat menghidupkan dan mematikan. Ibrahim berkata: Sesungguhnya Allah menerbitkan matahari dari timur, maka terbitkanlah dia dari barat, lalu heran terdiamlah orang kafir itu; dan Allah tidak memberi petunjuk kepada orang-orang yang zalim. (QS. 2:258). Akhirnya Allah memusnahkan Namrud.

Firaun juga sombong dengan kekuasaannya. Dia merasakan kemakmuran dan pembangunan yang besaar dan megah di bumi Mesir adalah disebabkan kehebatan dan keagungan dirinya. Aaallah menyataka dalam surat az-Zukhruf

51. Dan Firaun berseru kepada kaumnya (seraya) berkata: Hai kaumku, bukankah kerajaan Mesir ini kepunyaanku (QS. 43:51) dan juga sunagi-sungai yang mengalir di bawahku, maka apakah kamu tidak melihat?". Akhirnya Firaun tenggelam dalam lautan.

Qorun pula sombong dengan kekayaannya. Hartanya sangat banyak sehingga Qoru mengatakan kunci-kunci perbendaharannya perlu dipikul oleh sejumlah orang yang sangat kuat. Allah menyatakan dalam surat al-Qashash

78. Karun berkata: Sesungguhnya aku hanya diberi harta itu, karena ilmu yang ada padaku. Dan apakah ia tidak mengetahui, bahwasanya Allah sungguh telah membinasakan umat-umat sebelumnya yang lebih kuat daripadanya, dan lebih banyak mengumpulkan harta? Dan tidaklah perlu ditanya kepada orang-orang yang berdosa itu tentang dosa-dosa mereka. (QS. 28:78). Akhirnya Qorun pun mati ditelan bumi.

Sebaliknya mereka yang benar-benar mengenali Allah senantiasa tunduk dengan dengan mengabdikan diri kepada-Nya tidak kira waktu senang ataupun susah. COntohnya, Nabi Sulaiman adalah seorang raja yannnnnng luas dengan pemerintahannya. Di samping itu, beliau dapat menguasai manusia, jin dan hewan. Namun begitu, beliau tidak sombong. Allah menyatakan dalam surat an-Naml

19. maka dia tersenyum dengan tertawa karena (mendengar) perkataan semut itu. Dan dia berdoa: Ya Rabbku, berilah aku ilham untuk tetap mensyukuri nimat-Mu yang telah Engkau anugerahkan kepadaku dan kepada dua orang ibu bapakku dan untuk mengerjakan amal saleh yang Engkau ridhai; dan masukkanlah aku dengan rahmat-Mu ke dalam golongan hamba-hamba-Mu yang saleh. (QS. 27:19).

Demikian juga dengan Nabi Yusuf. Beliau pernah menjadi raja di Mesir. Namun semua kemewahan yang dimilikinya langsung tidak melenakan beliau dari mengingati Allah. Allah menyatakan dlam surat Yusuf.

101. Ya Rabbku, Sesungguhnya Engkau telah menganugerahkan kepadaku sebagian kerajaan dan telah mengajarkan kepadaku sebagian tabir mimpi. (Ya Rabb) Pencipta langit dan bumi. Engkaulah Pelindungku di dunia dan di akhirat, wafatkanlah aku dalam keaadaan Islam dan gabungkanlah aku dengan orang-orang yang saleh. (QS. 12:101)

Bahaya Tertipu dengan Ilmu
Orang yang berilmu dapat terpedaya dengan ilmunya. Sehubungan dengan ini, Imam Ghazali berkata, "ANtara golongan yang terperdaya ialah ahli fikih yang menguasai ilmu ketaatan tetapi tidak mengamalkannya. Sebagian dari mereka menguasai ilmu sehingga mereka mengenali perkara yang maksiat, tetapi mereka tidak menjauhinya. Sebagian yang lain mengetahui tentang kepentingan akhlak tetapi tidak menghiaskan diri mereka dengannya. Inilah (ulama) yang tertipu...Iman Tabrani dan Baihaqi meriwayatkan sabda nabi yang bermaksud, "Manusia yang mendapat azab yang paling keras di hari kiamat ialah orang alim yang tidak mendapatkan manfaat dari ilmunya."

Selanjutnya, Imam Ghazali berkata, "Walau bagaimanapun sebagian ahli ilmu mengamalkan apa yang mereka ketahui namun tujuan mereka bukanlah untuk mencari keridhaan Allah sebaliknya untuk mencari pengaruh serta nama. Sebagian yang lain merasa ujub atau kagum dengan kelebihan yang ada pada diri mereka. Mereka asyik menghiaskan diri di sudut lahir sehingga mengabaikan perkara yang lebih penting yaitu kebersihan batin serta hati. Ketika itu mereka melupakan musuh yanng utama mereka yaitu syaitan. Lalu mereka berpakaian dengan menggunakan kain-kain yang halus diselimuti mutiara, perhiasan serta sutera yang diharamkan, dan bermusyafir dengan menggunakan kendaraan yang mengagumkan. Mereka mendakwa semua ini dilakukan bertujuan utnuk memuliakan agama. Mereka masuk ke tempat para penguasa yang dzalim untuk memuji mereka dan mendapatkan kasih sayang mereka. Mereka ini sebenarnya adalah dajal agama dan bukan imam agama karena imam agama yang sebenarnya adalah yang mengutamakan kepentingan akhirat dan tidak terpedaya dengan kelezatan dunia. sebaliknya golongan dajal in berpaling dari kehendakl Allah dan menghadapkan dirinya dengan kenikmatan dan keenakan dunia". Kesemua ini disebutkan di dalam kitab Ihya Ulumuddin. Read More...

Economic Growth Model

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Economic Growth Model

While economists do not agree on exactly how to promote economic development, there is general agreement that development requires economic growth, a real increase in per capita income, and the social and political institutions necessary to support an expansion of the national economy. It also requires citizens who can work effectively in the enterprises. As the production of goods and services rise at a rate higher than increases in population there is economic growth. Economic development, in addition to increased per capita income, also includes fundamental changes in the structure of the economy. These changes are characterized by a growing industrial sector combined with a declining agriculture share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as significant changes in population growth, rural to urban migration, and employment opportunities. ¹

Basic Economic Growth Model

– Primary factors of production under a basic model are capital stock (roads, bridges, factories, land, etc.) and labor (economically active population). Output is a function of capital and labor. At a national level, an aggregate production function can be represented by the formula Y = F (K, L) where Y is output, K is capital and L is labor. Increased output (Y) depends on increases in the capital stock (K) through investment and depreciation, and increases in labor supply (L) through population growth. The amount of investment in capital stock depends on savings and is calculated by multiplying the average savings rate in a country by national output. Labor supply is based on demographics. As capital and labor increase, economic output grows. The aggregate production function represented in the graph below is basic to economic growth models.

basic economic growth model

Harrod-Domar Growth Model

– During the 1940s economists Roy Harrod and Evsey Domar independently developed an economic growth model based on a fixed-coefficient, constant returns to scale function (this function assumes that capital and labor are used in a constant ratio to each other to determine total output – see graph). Outputs in this graph are isoquants (combinations of labor and capital that produce output). The model assumes that labor and capital are always used in a fixed proportion to produce out equal amounts of output. The model’s equation is Y = K/v where v is a constant found by dividing capital (K) by investment (Y) – v is the capital-output ratio. This ratio is primarily a measure of the productivity of capital or investment.

harrod-domar growth model

The Harrod-Domar model focuses on two critical aspects of the growth process: saving and the efficiency with which capital is used in investment. This model can provide accurate short term predictions of growth and has been used extensively in developing countries to determine the “required” investment rate or “financing gap” to be covered in order to achieve a target growth rate. At MCC, the “financing gap” approach was inferred in the first slide, second bullet of Franck Wiebe’s “Growth Diagnostics” presentation in terms of the need for MCC to provide foreign assistance which will in turn promote “… private capital investment, both foreign and domestic, eventually displacing aid.”² The Harrod-Domar model is simple with relatively small data requirements and the equation is easy to use. However, the model only remains in equilibrium with full employment of both labor force and capital stock causing inaccurate longer term economic predictions³ and fails to account for technological change and productivity gains considered essential for long-term growth and development.

Solow (Neoclassical) Growth Model

Solow (Neoclassical) Growth Model – In the 1950s, MIT economist Robert Solow presented a new model of economic growth that addressed limitations in the Harrod-Domar model. He replaced the fixed-coefficients production function with a neoclassical production function. This model allowed for substitution between the factors of production so that the relative endowments of capital and labor could be reflected (rather than the fixed ratios required by the Harrod-Domar model). The neoclassical production function has curved, rather than L shaped, isoquants allowing flexibility in using different combinations of capital and labor. Output can be expanded in one of three ways: (1) increases through fixed and equal portions of labor and capital, (2) increases in capital, or (3) increases in labor. The Solow Growth Model assumes a production function with the property of diminishing returns where each additional increment in capital per worker results in less output.⁴ However, technological change is seen as increasing productivity. The neoclassical production function showed increasing technology or knowledge as labor augmenting and increasing output. Solow assumes technology increases independent (exogenous) of the model in two forms: mechanical (improved machinery, computers, etc.) and human capital (improved education, health, worker skills, etc.). Key determinants of growth are population growth and technical change and over time poor and rich countries incomes should converge.⁵

sollow growth model

Solow (Neoclassical) Growth Model

Sources of Growth Analysis – Robert Solow also developed a procedure, “growth accounting” or “sources of growth analysis”, to focus directly on the contribution of each term in the production function. The objective was to determine what proportions of recorded economic growth could be attributed to growth in capital stock, growth in the labor force, and changes in overall efficiency.

Using the formula Y=F(K, L, A) where Y is output, K is capital, L is labor, and A is a parameter meet to capture the effects of things other than capital stock and labor supply which might influence growth (increasing technology, worker skill levels, education, health, institutions, etc.). “A” is generally referred to total factor productivity (TFP). Since A captures not only efficiency gains but also the net effect of errors and omissions from economic data, the residual A is sometimes referred to as a measure of our ignorance about the growth process.

When Solow modeled data for US GNP from 1909 to 1949 of increased output less than one half of the gain could be explained by increased inputs in labor and capital. With more than fifty percent of growth attributable to the residual, logic would dictate that there must be a significant gain in productivity coming from one or more efficiency enhancing factor(s) (technical change, increased knowledge, innovation, entrepenuership, etc.) but the problem lies in actually identifying the factors affecting increased productivity.

Endogenous or New Growth Theory – In an effort to more precisely define the attributes of economic growth, a new theory was developed in the 1980s. Paul Romer’s 1990 paper, “Endogenous Technological Change”, was a seminal contribution to the New Growth Theory. In his paper, Romer stated that technological change was (1) is an economic good and is the driving force of economic growth, (2) arises due to people responding to market incentives, and (3) is inherently different than other economic goods. Romer stated that technology was a good that was neither a conventional nor a public good but instead is a non-rival, partially excludable good. This was an important distinction in that private goods are seen as provided by markets and public goods either occur naturally or are provided by governments to compensate for some type of market failure.

The distinction between rival and non-rival goods and the degree to which their use can be excluded from others is the key premise of Romer’s model. A rival good is one that can be possessed by only one person at a time (writing with a pencil, eating an apple, etc.) whereas a non-rival good can be used unlimitedly by more than one person or firm (software program, business process, etc.). The access that more than one person or firm has to a rival or non-rival product is termed, excludability. Technology is considered a non-rival input that is at least partially excludable (otherwise there would not be an economic incentive to develop it if there was not some way to at least partially limit free access). Human capital, on the other hand, is a rival good that is excludable – mathematical equations can be a non-rival, free good but having a person with the skill to do the mathematical calculations is limited and considered rivalrous since the person who possesses this ability can not be in more than one place at the same time.

Support to generate new technology is seen as a non-rival, partially excludable good which is a requirement for production. Imperfect markets require government support of innovation and technology. The Neoclassical Growth Model, on the other hand, assumes perfect competition and argues that the market makes the best allocation of resources including investments in technology (actually technology is exogenous, not accounted for within the neoclassical model). The debate between public and private goods is important. Depending upon the theoretical approach, public support for innovation and improved business processes, activities at the heart of a “value chain” approach, can be justified.

The value chain approach is an important development strategy for the Agriculture and Rural Development Team. The value chain focus on “virtuous cycles” grounded primarily in the Endogenous Growth Model highlights the need for investment where technology, innovation, improved productivity and business processes and the subsequent increasing returns are key to promoting economic growth.

Virtuous Cycles –Endogenous Growth Model

1 Dwight Perkins, et al., Economics of Development 5^th edition (W. W. Norton & Company. New York, N.Y. 2001) 9 -15.

2 Franck Wiebe “Constraints Analysis” Presentation at MCC.

3 This is known as the “knife edge” problem where as soon as either capital or labor grow faster there is increasing unemployment of either labor or capital.

4 For example as each additional machine is added, there is a decrease in the overall increase in worker productivity. William Easterly’s comparison in “The Elusive Quest for Growth” of India and US capital versus productivity (each US worker had an incomes of 15 times that of an India worker) showed that the difference in productivity between the US and India would require each US worker to have more than 900 machines. Capital can not account for the difference in productivity. Technological change was key.

5 David Warsh, Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006) 143 – 149. – “The surprising implication of the Solow model was that the savings rate didn’t really matter for the growth rate. The Harrod-Domar model suggested that all poor countries had to do was to double savings to increase growth but the Solow model suggested that the effect of such capital deepening would be transitory as sooner or later the nation ran into diminishing returns. Only population growth and technological change could promote long term economic growth.”

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