Got back yesterday from a quick trip to Singapore (though anything that involves 18 hours in a plane – one way – is not exactly quick). I don’t really have any profound personal observations about the country since I spent every spare moment working on a healthcare paper and never left my hotel, but this was my third or fourth trip so I can make two big-picture observations.
1. Small government works – Singapore is not a truly laissez-faire nation since government consumes more than 20 percent of GDP and there is a back-door form of industrial policy thanks to government control of the allocation of the money generated by private saving for retirement and health care. But it still is one of the world’s most free-market jurisdictions according to Economic Freedom of the World and the Index of Economic Freedom. It started as a poor jurisdiction and is now a rich one. The tax code is progressive, but the top tax rate is just 20 percent, so people are not punished for creating wealth.
2. Diversity works when government does not create hostility and resentment – Singapore is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world. The population is comprised of Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Whites. To my knowledge, there are no significant racial or ethnic problems. Everyone is too busy making money and government doesn’t create resentments by favoring one group over the other. Seems like other nations could learn something.
Last but not least, a general gripe about government. Why is there a requirement, at least in some airports, to go through security when arriving on one flight before going on another? After flying 7 hours from Singapore to Tokyo (which, of course, required going through security), I then had to shuffle for 30 minutes in a line to get my laptop X-rayed again. Did the bureaucrats think I somehow acquired a bomb on the flight? This happens, for reasons that are not clear, at a few other airports. Does anyone know why, other than to provide jobs for more bureaucrats?
When I changed planes in Hong Kong (this was in the mid ’90s) they searched my luggage. Why? I wasn’t entering Hong Kong.
[…] But I’m an economist, so I’m still as positively impressed as I was back in 2009. […]
Hi Dan. Next time call me, I’ll get you out of your hotel and take you to see real Singaporeans and more importantly I’ll show you why they have no freedom. I’ll also take you to the best easting places!
It’s interesting that your Institute is called the Centre for Freedom AND Prosperity as that is exactly what Singaporeans don’t have. The very first public speech I ever made ,I spoke about the Faustian pact that Singaporeans had made with their government to allow their freedom to be taken away from them in return for (relative) prosperity. My view that I expressed was that they didn’t need to give away one in order to have the other. That conversely the more freedom they had the more prosperity would follow. So we would appear to be on the same page.
I say “public” speech but of course in Singapore we aren’t allowed to express our opinions in public. It actually is against the law to gather in numbers of more than 1 without a licence from the government. In fact I stood in a park at our so called Speaker’s Corner- the only place where public speaking is permitted and then you must submit your national Identity card number to the authorities and register to speak, beforehand. A microphone isn’t allowed and you stand under the tropical heat or rain.
That National Identity card that needs to be registered? It has our race on it. In Singapore we aren’t all equally Singaporeans as we are divided by race and strictly controlled. You might not like Obama’s policies ( and who does) but what would you think about your country if he was barred from living in the neighbourhood where his family lived because that area had gone over the quota allowed for households owned by ‘Africans’? I was born here in 1959 before our Republic was founded but my card still states “Ceylonese” and so I am subject to the Indian quota. It’s probably best not to make assumptions about lack of resentment without speaking to the minorities. I’m sure on a visit to Israel if you stayed in the beach hotels of Tel Aviv you would say, ” What Palestinian problem? I for one resent having to carry at all times that card which labels me, marginalises me and physically restricts my right to live where I want .
‘ Big government’ should not just be a quantitative definition.
You mention whites. They are not one of the four recognised races of Singapore. Those must be the ex-pats and except for about 50 – 100 a year very few have Singaporean citizenship. Yes, they come here to benefit from the tax haven but let’s face it, for most single white men moving here, the Asian sex trade, legalised prostitution and casinos are also the big draw. For families the benefit of a live -in domestic worker who works 24/7 for $200 a month and is excluded from any rights afforded by employment law is clearly also a big draw. Just don’t come here with any children with special needs or physical challenges as there aren’t any facilities.
Singapore is a perfect example of prosperity for some with freedom for none. I wouldn’t want you to mistake me for a bleeding heart liberal but I think Hong Kong is a better example for you to use. On a trip there last week I was impressed by how the people of Hong Kong have more democracy than we do despite their situation. In a decade they will have out stripped us.
Here is an article I wrote for Wired magazine about the failure of our government’s central planning and totalitarian regime to deliver the high- tech Island miracle we were promised and how totalitarian and prosperity do not go hand in hand. http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/04/opinion-jeyaretnam-disneyland-death-penalty/all/1
I am currently questioning whether Singapore’s loan to the IMF was constitutional. Not unsurprisingly as our citizens have lived in austerity for decades ,worked longer hours per capita to produce that GDP than workers in any other advanced nation, and enjoy no welfare state whatsoever,not even free education even at the compulsory primary school level, they are a bit concerned at shoring up the inefficient socialist economies of Europe
http://thereformparty.net/about/press-releases/an-open-letter-to-the-minister-for-finance/
I’m still waiting for a response form our government.
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[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s value observant that general studies find that a jurisdictions with a top rates of taxation correspondence are a ones with reasonable taxation systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
[…] Indeed, it’s worth noting that international studies find that the jurisdictions with the highest rates of tax compliance are the ones with reasonable tax systems, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Singapore. […]
Hi Dan – it was good to see you again.
The Singaporeans do that to stop people from smuggling through Singapore. So they have taken drug mules who are simply transiting through Singapore and prosecuted them (and executed them too).