Friday, December 02, 2011

Challenges from the global economic system

There is a general worry that slow growth in US and Europe will cause problem to Asia, and especially to China being the largest manufacturer in the world. This could lead to unemployment and unrest.

Think again. Why are we having an economic system where people have to work long hours, just to earn enough money to survive, and along the way, other people have to be unemployed? And we need to keep growing faster, so that they is enough work for people to work long hours just to be employed?

The simple answer is "the majority of people have to work long hours, as slaves, just to earn enough to get by, so that the 1% can be super rich. The worst countries are those with the largest disparity of income between the top 1% and the bottom 99%. Sad to say, Singapore fared among the worst in the world in this measure. This is why we have one of the lowest birth rate in the world and a high level of unhappiness among the people".

What is the solution? Minimum wage (to make sure that people can earn enough with 8 hours of work), control over immigration, better planning and allocation of resources. Singapore fared badly on all three measures, but the situation can be managed, if we pay attention to these matters now.


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