


If PAP Were Planning An Early Election Before Things Got Worse They Have Missed the Boat
Today’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) release of GDP for the first quarter 2019 actually shows an acceleration in annualized quarter-on-quarter growth to 3.8% despite the drop in year-on-year […]

US Tax Reform Could Raise US GDP by 1.4%. But How Much Will It Lower Singapore’s GDP?
The Republican tax plan is now almost certain to become law by the end of this year. As I write it has been passed by the Senate and the House […]

Plunging Exports Will Result in Many Years of Slow Growth Without a Change in Policy
In the light of the big drop in exports in January 2016 over the same month last year it is likely that growth for the final quarter of 2015 will […]

No idea what to do? Talk about the long-term instead
On the first day of CNY Lee Hsien Loong was up early and distributing mandarins and red packets to the Changi Airport workers unfortunate enough to be working on a […]

I Bet You Did Not Know This about Recession.
Regular readers of my scribblings will know that I have frequently drawn attention to the fact that Singapore has been on the verge of recession several times but only narrowly avoided […]

Perspiration without Inspiration. Singapore’s Role in the Asian Economic Boom.
The death of Lee Kuan Yew has shown that much of the rest of the world believes that he brought about an economic miracle in Singapore. Furthermore the world believes that […]

Singapore’s Economic and Immigration Policies are Insane
On Friday the Financial Times carried an excellent article by the eminent and long-standing economic commentator, Samuel Brittan. I have reproduced a screenshot of his article above. I remember as […]

Where have our reserves gone?
“Let me tell you the truth, as spending increases significantly sooner or later taxes must go up too.” Thus spake the PM in his National Day Rally Speech. Apart […]

In Search of Answers: My Correspondence with The Statistics Department
Whilst I continue with my attempts to hold the MOF up to proper scrutiny, we must not forget the discrepancies in our Budget. I have decided to make the following exchange of correspondence available as a public […]