Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Economic growth

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Economic growth

Read this article.

Massive pay rise

My view
There is no point in growing the economy, if it does not lead to a better quality of life for the people living here. Maybe the economic growth means higher pay for the top CEOs and ministers, but leaders should take into account the impact of the ordinary people, and not for their own interest.

16 comments:

C H Yak said...: Totally agree, see my other posting in this blog....

Q Lucky Tan
"As our income gap increases, this 'every man for himself' system will further divide our society and erode social cohesion." .....

"The difference between Singapore and France represents the numerous policy options and alternatives that can be considered as we evolve. But changes to our system will never come if we stick with a dogmatic ideological govt with a single KPI of economic growth and puts zero weight on the ideals of our pledge which contains the words "justice and equality".
UQ Lucky Tan

Our system is to ENSLAVE the people while creating a stream of investment returns for the GLC and their Govt's own pockets especially when GDP is said to :-

Q ST Online
SINGAPORE'S economy is expected to grow 13 to 15 per cent this year, from an earlier forecast of 7 to 9 per cent due to better performance in the first quarter and stronger expected growth in the second quarter, led by surging manufacturing.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry revised upwards the growth figures for the year after the economy expanded by 16.9 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago - higher than the 15.5 per cent rise estimated in May.
UQ

Q ST Online
"HOUSTON (Texas) - SINGAPORE'S economy looks set for a 'record year', said visiting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he wrapped up a six-day visit to the United States.

Speaking to the Singapore media ahead of the release of advance second quarter GDP estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Mr Lee said here on Tuesday night: 'It's very good news."
UQ

Q ST Online
THE Housing Board's latest and largest build-to-order flat exercise has attracted very strong demand.

As of 5pm, some 16,944 applicants have applied for 2,696 flats in Punggol and Sengkang.
UQ.

It is not good news for many ... I don't think I would get a pay jump in similar percentage with these KPIs (even if there is a pay increase)... only GOVT salaries would ... yet innocent people are jumping on the HDB backwagon to be enslaved ????.

July 14, 2010 10:25 AM; July 15, 2010 9:02 AM
Anonymous said...: It also depends on how we grow the economy. By rising real estate price? Casinos? Financial Institutions/banks ?

Or by manufacturing and other added value goods / services that add real value to society??

kny; July 15, 2010 9:30 AM
C H Yak said...: A few years back, I wrote to TODAY Paper forum page to say that Ministers' pay should not be pegged to GDP growth and the private sector top earners alone but also the quality of life of the common people which is quite dependent on the actual income earnings & closing of income gap of the common people vs top earners.

We can work out complicated formula to determine distance- based bus fares for the common people, why not Ministers' pay ????????; July 15, 2010 9:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Growing an economy basically is done by 2 means, i.e. add more workforce or increase productivity or both. By adding more foreign talents/workers to grow the economy will not lead to increase in pay of average (local) workers.

Also, if the employers keep higher profits instead of distributing them by way of wages or bonuses, then, averge workers will not be bebefting from this high economy growth.

CCL; July 15, 2010 10:34 AM
Anonymous said...: GDP growth by 13% or 130% makes no difference to a peasant like me. Growth or no growth, salary increase is peanut if any but the bills keeps growing without fail this I know.; July 15, 2010 11:04 AM
Concerned said...: Add another 100,0000 foreigners??? Are we not crowded enough? Take a look at the MRT, hospitals, buses, stretch of road between Chinatown to Aljunid, etc, etc. Don't stay in the cool comfortable office and decided such things.; July 15, 2010 11:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr. Tan, You are the Paul Krugman of Singapore. It is great that you are making your best to educate Singapore, what is the real meaning of growth?
(1) Growth from production
(2) Growth from infrastructure building
(3) Is the infrastructure able to generate production / service in the future
(4) Social impact of growth

We all manage our own family. It may not be always good to buy a bigger house. Sometimes, it may be good to spend time with your loved ones; or spend money on nutritious food and education. From Cashew Nut; July 15, 2010 11:27 AM
Anonymous said...: Why the PM was unable to set a date for the next General Election? Because the final judgement day is getting closer to PAP and its gangs.; July 15, 2010 11:38 AM
I want to be vietnamese said...: Hurrah! we are part of this effort to raise the GDP above 10%!!

Boy! I am sooo happy that I helped my Cabinet Ministers to enjoy a quality of life that is much better than those in Europe, Canada and USA!! even Australia and Japan!!

Its such a wonderfull achievement that is really commendable and it shows resilence, resourcefullness and result oriented!! wow! a 3Rs!!

I will continue to work with dilligence, duty and discipine! a 3D framework!!

May we all be blessed with more success with our ministers showing the benchmark... high GDP numbers!!

Hmmmmm... where is my CPF?.. where is all the money that is related to this GDP growth?

You mean its only a number?
No money comming?
You mean we dont get cheaper cars?
You mean we have to pay taxes??

But you get a pay rise?

where got like dat one?
not fair leh!!
You better swear in front of tua pek kong!!; July 15, 2010 11:41 AM
Anonymous said...: If you need to increase Ministers' Salary, what should you do?

i) Must have good GDP number.
Explosive GDP was partly due to 2 IRs? I thought it was the success of using Reserve and pump into the economy, President salary and Ministers' salary.

ii) Use Civil Servant pay increase to increase Ministers' salary. Additional reasons are "long time no increase", Ministers' suffered pay cut since 2008, Cabinet responsible for explosive GDP but not responsible for recession. Can also say high % increase for lower rank civil increase while very small % increase for Ministers. Another good point is hard to find talent as private sector pay more.

I have live here long enough to have been brainwashed with all of the above reasons. Nothing new but just wondering aloud, what is 5% increase of a $1000 monthly salary as compared to 1% increase of a $128,000 monthly salary.

The different is $1,280 - $50 = $1,230 excluding bonus and benefits.

But please vote for them for the ability to use numbers and statistic to convince us that they are worth every cent and they are the only few talent left in the population of 4 millions people.

PAP CRAP.......; July 15, 2010 12:12 PM
Anonymous said...: If the increase in gdp does not increase the pay of the workers, then something is wrong. The demand of gdp products should drive up the product price such that companies will earn more (considering the production cost remains the same). Thus when gdp grows, companies will expand to produce more and also increase their demand for manpower. When demand goes up, the wage should go up. It should cost more for the household to supply additional labour to the factory. Workers should be in a better position to ask for more pay or simply job hop.

But what if there are a ever increasing pool of cheaper labour supply or simply government just bring in more and more labour? It will shift the equilibrium back to the original wage level.

If the increase in gdp does not increase the pay of the workers, then something is wrong. The demand of gdp products should drive up the product price such that companies will earn more (considering the production cost remains the same). Thus when gdp grows, companies will expand to produce more and also increase their demand for manpower. When demand goes up, the wage should go up. It should also cost more for the household to supply additional labour to the factory. Workers should be in a better position to ask for more pay or simply job hop.

But what if there are a ever increasing pool of cheaper labour supply or simply government just bring in more and more labour?; July 15, 2010 12:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Exactly.

What difference does growing at double digit make to low income earners, who have to compete with foreigners, and outbidding each other to depress wages?

Or the hype about multi-billion high-tech investments coming into the country, but providing few jobs for Singaporeans? Sure, the high-end products boost the export figures, but the reality is, they do nothing to improve the lives of ordinary Singaporeans, other then boosting the national reserves, for some people to speculate and loose.

Rich country but poor people!; July 15, 2010 12:28 PM
Anonymous said...: "what is the real meaning of growth?"

GDP grow = My Salary Grow

"The economic forecast at the beginning of the year is between 4 to 6 percent. Then TODAY reported that PAP ministers can expect to receive a hefty 8.8 percent pay hike in 2010."

At S$2 million a year, it means about $176,000 increase.

Of course, it will not be reported as usual as it may affect the social cohesion or social security of Singapore. Just get paid quietly and walk away as long as during Parliment meeting, just nod your head, support your bosses and whenever possible, insult the opposition.

You happy, I happy.; July 15, 2010 12:35 PM
Anonymous said...: I think generally singapore economist does know how to manage the economy. They let the market run freely with little intervention. You can see that our gdp is mostly affected by the business cycle (trough and peak). Our tax is low and supportive of the businesses. That is why we are still growing fast (but also because of the tradeoff of lower wages). This is similar to Germany

Look at the american and the european countries, do you think they will last long? There are suppose to be experts in economy, but they have outsource their manufacturing operations to the east. Their tax is increasing to pay for the trillions of dollars of debts. And that means the consumer will have less money to spend. The worst thing is that they are imposing trade barrier to satisfy the lobbyist who supported their campaign. Now the american will not be able to buy cheap china goods. What does that mean? It means good news for the lobbyist but bad news for the rest of the industry since the consumer has less money to buy their products; July 15, 2010 12:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Employers need to change their mindset lah. Cannot keep harping about the old days (maybe 50 years ago) when one plate of char kway teow costs 10 cents. Should no keep grumbling that your $3000 pay = 30,000 plates of char kway teow.; July 15, 2010 5:07 PM
Anonymous said...: What good is the GDP increase to 15%, I don't see it, smell it, touch, as I am still struggling to pay exorbitant bills with the ever increasing of cost of living.
It only increase the pay of the Ministers. Shitty talk.; July 15, 2010 5:48 PM