Budget 2016: Stuck in a Car in the Fog. Who to Ask for Directions?
Since 2012 I have pointed out, repeatedly, that the Singapore Budget presentation gives a deeply misleading picture of the Government’s finances. I have written innumerable times on how the Budget does […]
Will Lagarde Join Tharman in the Exclusive Club of Finance Ministers with Criminal Records?
In 2012 I discovered that the Finance Minister had pledged a US$ 4 billion loan commitment backed by our reserves to support a new lending facility for the IMF. This […]
The PAP Government Risks a Deepening Slump Unless They Heed the Reform Party’s Advice and Implement Stimulus Measures We Advocated in 2014
New press release by the Reform Party: The advance estimate for GDP for the second quarter of 2015 came out yesterday. The numbers were much worse than analysts had expected […]
Why Do the Greeks Resoundingly Reject Austerity Yet Singaporeans Embrace It?
On Sunday Greece’s voters overwhelmingly rejected the latest terms offered to them by their Eurozone creditors for rescheduling their huge debt mountain. With Greece’s debt to GDP ratio at 170% […]
Greece’s IMF Default Shows Clearly That the Finance Minister Misled Parliament and the People When He Claimed IMF Lending Carried No Risks
On 30 June 2015 Greece missed a payment of Euros 1.5 billion due to the International Monetary Fund. This was under a Euro 28 billion extended Stand-by Arrangement agreed between […]
Phey’s Arrest Raises More Questions Than It Answers
Three days ago, I was surprised to read a report in the State media saying that “After more than three decades on the run, former NTUC president and Member of […]
Whose “Egregious Conduct” Should Be Punished?
I was intrigued by the following report by Kelly Ng that appeared in State Media’s Today Online a few days back. SINGAPORE — A day after a High Court raised the […]
Lies, Damned Lies and Singapore’s Statistics
Recently Singapore Policy Journal published an article by Michelle Khoo entitled “Open Data for an Open Society.” In it she called for the release of data to citizens and an […]
Does the ASEAN Agreement on Free Movement of Labour Threaten Singaporean Jobs: Alex Au’s Views
A few days ago Alex Au put up a blog post entitled “ASEAN single market and the free movement of skilled labour”. He mentions my previous post on this subject, […]
An Open Letter to the Minister of Finance Concerning the National Productivity Fund
18A Smith Street Singapore 058932 14 May 2015 Tharman Shanmuguratnam Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance Ministry of Finance 100 High Street #10-01 The Treasury Singapore 179434 Dear Minister, […]
Why We Should Be Worried About Singapore’s Productivity
The PM has admitted that the PAP's economic policies have been ruinous for productivity .
Will the Taxpayer End Up Subsidizing Ho Ching’s Bonus?
In Budget 2015 the Finance Minister allocated $3 billion towards the construction of the new Terminal 5 at Changi Airport. He stated that he would be setting up a new […]
Weak Exports Confirm We Were Right to Call for A Stimulus Package Last Year
The latest figures for non-oil domestic exports were extremely weak and signal that GDP growth is likely to be weaker than the MAS’s projection for this year of 2-4%. They […]
Reform Party’s Wishlist for Budget 2015
The Budget Statement is only a few hours away. The Government-controlled and-owned media is full of speculation about the “goodies” that Singaporeans can look forward to. The Straits Times estimates […]
Is the Government Going Bust?
I was quite shaken by my trip to Parliament yesterday to watch the CPF “debate” . There wasn’t really any debate at all. Our Finance Minister, Tharman made a speech […]
What is the Real Surplus?
It appears that our Budget Cash Surplus has fallen off a cliff. The Budget Cash Surplus for FY2012, which was shown as $36.1 billion a year ago, is now stated […]
