A few days ago I responded to Jamus Lim's post proposing that MAS should spend billions of dollars to make SGD more expensive so people can buy things more cheaply (even though it makes Singapore more costly to foreign buyers).
Today I got an even more bizarre reply, where the Workers' Party celebrity economist disparages Singaporean "mindset" as that found in Vietnam or China, where price matters more than quality - unlike, he says, in countries like the United States, Germany or Switzerland.What? Now, I know Jamus has been away for a long time, but I did not think he was so old to have left in the 70s or 80s - when, indeed, Singapore acquired knowledge in a similar way other developing countries do now - through cheap manufacturing.
But those days are long gone - and I found it rather shocking that an elected MP would be unaware of what Singapore is known for - and envied by many.
Let's be clear - the world does not come to Singapore to buy cheap. The world does not think of Singapore as a "low quality" partner either. To even float the idea that the city needs to change its mindset to a more "innovative" one, when it is housing some of the most advanced petrochemical companies, electronics' manufacturers, semiconductor fabs, is home to the world's best harbor, airport or airlines, clean, modern, efficient public transit and world-class infrastructure is... I don't even know how to call it.
One must be living in a parallel universe, really, to accuse Singapore or Singaporean entrepreneurs and companies of acting cheap. It's really an insult to generations of people who have established successful companies serving the world here. And generations of top notch engineers and business leaders - whose presence attracted foreign capital to invest in the city-state.
Singapore, a city of 5.5 million people, has a GDP greater than a nearly 100 million strong Vietnam - and that's the only thing that both countries come close at.
But, on a different note, how can any respectable economist suggest that Singapore is behind Germany? Singapore's GDP per capita is around 40 to 50% higher. What exactly is the point here? That Singapore is somehow less productive even though each person actually produces much more than a German does? And the country doesn't have to bankroll a huge welfare state, helping the laggards, and it has no debt to speak of because of that either?
What about the US, with its rust belt of fallen companies? What about the ghosts of Detroit, once the richest place on Earth, now a hollowed out ruin? American car manufacturers are still struggling and most of them wouldn't have even survived the crisis of 2009 without government bailouts.Is this the qualitative progress that Singapore should aspire to?
Jamus then brought up Silicon Valley and New York - apparently unaware of the crime, human excrement in public, homelessness, daily robberies and people being shoved onto subway tracks.
I know it seems like Big Tech rules the world but the fact is that the tech sector contributes just around 10% to American economy. TEN.People love to talk it up but the reality is that 90% of the economy is far less glamorous - but not less valuable.
Of course this explains why Jamus proposed to tax petrochemical companies out of Singapore a few months ago, suggesting manufacturing solar panels and having HR managers become coders. Not that it makes any economic sense but because it works as a nice image for the social media generation.
Until today I thought that he was merely an academic knowing how to reframe economic theory from an angle that suits political needs of his party.
But now I just think he has no idea what he's talking about - and, frankly speaking, that's pretty scary.
