Monday, June 11, 2012

In a recent keynote speech to the Economic Society of Singapore, PM Lee Hsien Loong talked about the strategy on economic growth. Full speech.

 There are two points in his speech that I dislike:

a) He referred to "targeted assistance". This means writing rules on which gets and who does not get. These rules are usually arbitrary, complicated and unfair to those who are excluded at the margin. Those who benefit are happy; but those who are excluded are not. This divides our people and create a selfish culture.

b) He said that the government may not be able to boost the income, but they are able to boost the value of the assets. It is easy to inflate asset values, e.g. build a property bubble, but it has cannot be sustained and has to burst one day, with serious consequences. Even if it is supported at a high level, the younger generation will pay for it through high prices and 30 year loans. This strategy is bad for the people.


3 comments:

Lye Khuen Way said...

I find these words "targeted" & "calibrated" very jarring to my senses.
More often then not, they failed to achieved. Or was it targeted to he so !
The "Asset Enhancement" crap does nothing for most middle income & lower income families.
Yes, only if we are childless or single.
They expect us to eat bricks when the time comes.

sgcynic said...

The "targeting" was notable with the introduction of the NE MRT line. Residents using the MRT have to pay a higher and "fair" fares for a higher-cost MRT line. This form of targeting was then extended to all sectors of the economy. One cannot fail to notice how fare increases are targeted at certain groups each year and the "adjustments" rationalised. "targeted", in other words, divide and conquer. Recall how certain groups of the electorate and politicians "targeted" during each election. Many supposedly neutral terms all took on a different nuance and negative connotation under the incumbent governing party.

Anonymous said...

Govt seem to be taking easy way out with immigration and asset inflation - showing good GDP numbers is nothing if the lives of Singaporeans do not improve qualitatively and tangibly. Not all things can be measured by numbers. Being a millionaire and being labelled a high networth individual counts for nothing here when property prices are a million bucks and easily outpace income growth. When people hope to make their $ through capital gains and receive passive rental income from their properties rather than from productive day jobs - it begs the question how long this "happy" state of affairs can last. After all, although there are many fools in this world, there is a limit to the fools with $ who can carry on this global Ponzi scheme. Be very careful when everybody and their dog are onto the same game. Nothing goes up forever - not even property. Look at Japan/Spain/US/South Korea...

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