The world just got a harsh lesson in what happens when government planning fails spectacularly.
A new United Nations report dropped last week that should send shivers down the spine of every American who cares about smart governance.
And Jakarta just became the world's largest city — revealing a disaster that puts Biden's urban failures to shame.
Indonesia's Capital Crisis Exposes the Real Cost of Government Mismanagement
With nearly 42 million residents crammed into a sinking, polluted mega-city, Jakarta has officially dethroned Tokyo as the world's most populous urban area¹. The Indonesian capital soared from 33rd place just seven years ago to claim this dubious honor.
But this isn't a celebration. It's a catastrophe decades in the making.
Jakarta is drowning — literally. The city is sinking at 25 centimeters per year in some areas due to massive groundwater extraction². U.S. officials have warned that Jakarta faces an existential crisis as sea levels rise and the city continues to sink³.
Forty percent of Jakarta sits underwater already. Every time it rains, the city turns into a lake. And the traffic? You can't move. Sitting in gridlock for hours while the economy bleeds money.
The Indonesian government's response? Build an entirely new capital city 1,200 miles away called Nusantara — at a cost of $32 billion.
The New Capital Boondoggle Shows Government Corruption at Its Worst
The Nusantara project reveals everything wrong with government megaprojects. What was supposed to be 80% privately funded has turned into a taxpayer nightmare with massive cost overruns and construction delays⁵.
Under new President Prabowo Subianto, state funding for Nusantara was slashed by more than half — from $2 billion in 2024 to just $700 million this year⁶. Private investment fell over $1 billion short of targets.
Even worse, anti-corruption campaigners found that the proposed capital site was owned by a "who's who of Indonesia's industrial and political elite," including Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his family members⁷. Contracts for coal power and water supply went to industrialists close to the government.
The project has already cleared more than 2,000 hectares of mangrove forest⁸. So much for the "green" capital they promised.
Only 2,000 civil servants and 8,000 construction workers currently live in Nusantara — nowhere near the 1.2 million residents planned for 2030. Small businesses that made money during the construction boom are getting crushed now that the cash dried up.
What Jakarta's Disaster Means for America
Look, Jakarta's mess should scare every American mayor who thinks throwing taxpayer money at problems works. Here's what always happens: government screws something up, then begs for more cash to "fix" it.
Jakarta's falling apart for the same reasons American cities are dying. Broken infrastructure nobody wants to maintain. Regulations that make housing unaffordable. And politicians who care more about who they know than what actually works.
Indonesian bureaucrats ignored Jakarta's problems for decades. They let urban sprawl run wild. They let corruption eat the system alive. Now they're ditching 42 million people to build some fantasy city in the middle of nowhere.
Sound familiar? This is what politicians do. They abandon the mess they created and chase shiny new projects that'll get their names on plaques. Former President Joko Widodo pushed Nusantara as his signature achievement while Jakarta literally sank into the ocean.
Sound familiar? Biden spent four years ignoring America's border crisis, homelessness epidemic, and urban decay while throwing money at climate initiatives and foreign aid boondoggles.
Jakarta proves that government "solutions" usually make problems worse. Instead of fixing Jakarta's water and transportation systems, Indonesian leaders chose the most expensive option possible — building an entirely new city.
The real tragedy is that 42 million people in Jakarta will continue suffering from flooding, traffic, and pollution while their tax dollars get wasted on a ghost town in the rainforest. That's what happens when government serves itself instead of the people.
Every American should study Jakarta's disaster. Because when government abandons its basic responsibilities to chase grandiose schemes, ordinary citizens pay the price.
¹ United Nations, "World Urbanization Prospects 2025," November 2025.
² Organization for World Peace, "Why Is Jakarta Sinking?," January 24, 2020.
³ Japan International Cooperation Agency Indonesia, "Joe Biden's Prediction on Jakarta Sinking," August 2021.
⁴ Bloomberg, "Indonesia's New $29B Capital Is Plagued by Delays," August 15, 2024.
⁵ Fortune, "Indonesia's new capital city of Nusantara isn't living up to its symbolism," March 27, 2022.
⁶ New Straits Times, "Funding cuts raise fears Indonesia's new capital Nusantara could become a 'ghost city'," October 2024.
⁷ Fortune, "Indonesia's new capital city of Nusantara isn't living up to its symbolism," March 27, 2022.
⁸ New Straits Times, "Funding cuts raise fears Indonesia's new capital Nusantara could become a 'ghost city'," October 2024.
