Singapore is a fascinating country, which many policies that we should at least consider.
http://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1595&context=soe_research
From page 18
We must not breed a culture of entitlement, encouraging Singaporeans to seek Government support as a matter of right, whether or not they need it. .. . The better-off must help the poor and the disadvantaged – the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the unemployed. In many developed countries, the state takes on this responsibility, but his is invariably financed by high taxes and levies on businesses and those who are working. Our social compact is rather different. It is based on personal responsibility, with the family and community playing key roles in supporting peopled through difficulties. The state will provide a safety net, but it should be a last resort, not a first resort, and should focus on the minority who need help the most. We thus avoid state welfare, which will erode our incentive to achieve and sap our will to strive. Our social compact enables us to keep taxes low, and lets people keep the fruits of their labour and businesses the rewards of their enterprise. And when we do well and have budget surpluses, we can distribute some of them back to Singaporean (The Straits Times, 19 February 2005).
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, son of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding PM of Singapore
Obituary Lee Kuan Yew - BBC News
Lee Kuan Yew, recently passed away 22nd of March 2015.
So I thought I might discuss Singapore, and not just because I have a think for Asians, and they have a great mail order bride business.
Singaporean Brides - Mail order brides from Singapore
<3
Singapore economic policies have resulting in Singapore having a robust economy, even during bad global down turns.
The unemployment rate in Singapore, has remained consistently low, even during the worst of the 'global recession' which peeked Singapore unemployment at a whooping 3.3%
Meanwhile, GDP has been very high overall.
Reaching 15% in 2010, while the rest of the world was in decline.
So let's look at some of the differences. Take for example Social Security.
CPF Overview
Singapore has a system called the Central Providence Fund. Employees and Employers, contribute 30% of the wage to the CPF. 20% from the employee side, and 10% from the employer side.
Without going into the extreme details, the system is setup so that Singaporeans, pay into an actual account.... a real bank account, with their own name on it. The money deposited into the account, is actually theirs. It's their own money, in their own account, that they own.
Compare that to the US social security system, which is in fact, a ponzi scheme.
So like Bernie Madoff, you get group A to buy into your scheme. Then you get group B, to pay off group A. Then you get group C to pay off group B. And then you get group D to pay C. You have to continuously find new people, to buy into the scheme, to pay those who already bought into the scheme. And eventually you run out of suckers to pay into your ponzi scheme, and the whole thing falls apart.
This is how social security works. The people paying in today, are paying those that are retired. And the reason we have to pay those people, is because their money was used to pay those who retired before them, whose money was used to pay those who retired before them... and on and on and on.
The only difference between a private ponzi scheme, and the public one, is no one can force people to pay into the private ponzi scheme. The Federal Government, can force people to pay into it. If I refuse to pay my FICA tax, people with guns show up. Every time the Social Security system gets close to failing, as all ponzi schemes do, they simply cut benefits, and raise taxes.
But not so with the CPF. It's actually your money, in your own account. Additionally, you can actually use that money, to do stuff with. The government allows you to withdraw money in certain situations, for your benefit. For example you can use the money in your CPF to purchase housing. Making a down payment on property. You can use it to purchase retirement investments. You can even use it to purchase insurance on property you already own, and also pay for education.
Moreover, the CPF has a Medisave account, which you can use to pay for treatment directly, or you can use it to purchase health insurance. As stark difference from flushing your money down the Medicare drain, to be lost forever. I would LOVE to be able to use the money stolen by Social Security and Medicare, for real practical benefits, instead of being lost in a ponzi scheme that's going broke.Now obviously, I would support a freedom based system, where you just keep your money without restrictions. But given the option of a CPF system, or a the SS/Medicare system, the CPF is hundreds of times better.
Then you look at the education system in Singapore. Completely different.
Singapore Guide Studying in Singapore Choice and requirements nbsp There is a wide choice of quality
Ministry of Education Singapore Edusave Scheme
First, they have a widely popular private, government-aided private, and public school system. There is no defacto monopoly of the socialized government school system.
Second, no school is free. ZERO free education. If you want your kids in school, you have to pay something. Even the 100% government run and funded schools, charge tuition.
Third, the government operates what is called the Edusave Fund. Every Singapore child, has an Edu-Save account opened, in their names. Into that account is deposited a flat sum of money. This can be used to pay for schooling at any school.
School choice is the law of the land. Any Singaporean can send their child to any school they choose to pay for. However, all must pay. The government schools vary in cost, but even the lowest costing government school, is still more than how much is deposited by the government into Edu-Save account. So everyone pays SOMETHING for their education.
This is like Vouchers system on steroids. A very free-market capitalist based education system, and Singapore has ranked number 1 in the world, on both math and science, several different times, even beating out Japan.
Taxes in Singapore are handled completely differently than here in the US.
I had my Soak the Rich discussion previously, but SIngapore does the exact opposite. Every time there is an economic down turn, they move to cut taxes in Singapore.
During the last down turn, they cut the already low corporate tax rate of 20, down to 18, and then again, to 17.
And the top marginal rate in Singapore, is only 20%
Singapore Personal Income Tax Rate 2004-2015 Data Chart Calendar
Now there are two reasons for this. First, there is a fundamental difference in attitudes towards business between America, and Asia in general. Asians tend to see business as a benefit to all of society and the country. Business creates jobs, creates wealth, makes products, and makes the country more wealthy.
America treats business, as some sort of evil disease, in need of being vaccinated. And CEOs are not great people that build business and create jobs, they are evil exploiters that keep people impoverished.
But there is actually a second reason, a more economic reason. It has to do with our welfare state.
Because the government funds all these programs, by it's very nature, the system tend to demand more taxes, at the very time the economy is tanking.
Think about it: At the very moment that tax revenue is declining, the economy is in recession, fewer people are working, it is exactly at that moment more people start collecting government benefits increasing the need for tax revenue. Some old lady working at Wendys, and the recession hits, she no longer has a job, and is no longer pays into social security. Then she goes home, and signs up to collect Social Security. Revenue into the system went down, demand for money from the system went up.
So at the very moment government revenue is declining, the demand for government services is going up.
Now compare that to the Singapore model: People who lose their jobs, just use money from THEIR OWN ACCOUNT. Again, the money taken from CPF, is placed into private individual accounts. It's their own money. So the demand on government during a down turn, doesn't increase that much. People just use the money they themselves have in their own accounts. Additionally, since the money collected by CPF wasn't going to the government to begin with, revenue into the government doesn't decline much.
Because of this difference, the government can wisely move to lower taxes during a recession, to stimulate economic grow, instead of the American system, where during an economic decline, we punish business with higher taxes, harming the economy even more.
Then you have the housing policies of Singapore.
There is public housing in Singapore, but it totally different from the American model. The American system, you have government hire a firm to design some buildings, get some union labor, and union suppliers, to build it. Hire union government employees, with government money to maintain it. And rent it out to people at subsidized prices. The result is the Pruitt-Igeo slums, completed in 1955, and demolished in 1968.
Pruitt Igoe - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
The Singapore model, is entirely different.
First, public housing is built by private companies, with the intent to sell. Thus private companies have a profit incentive to make quality housing, and also practical functional housing.
Second, public housing is (as mentioned), not rented. You can only buy. Lee Kuan Yew, was completely against renting, because renters don't take care of the property... obviously... because it's not theirs.
So, how do we get poor people who don't have much money, to buy a condo? The CPF fund. By allowing poor people to use their CPF to buy a place to live, home ownership in SIngapore is 90%, unlike the US which is 63%.
But this leads to why US public housing is rented. If we sell it, then we won't have anymore public housing for low-income people. How do we keep the stock of low-income house available?
Singapore does this two ways. First, when an owner decides to sell their condo, if the owner is poor, they may sell the condo for whatever the going market price is. However, if the owner is above an income level, they must sell for a percentage of the market rate. Thus if the market rate for an owners condo is $100,000, and they earn too high of an income, they would have to sell for 50% (whatever the government percentage is), below market. So they can sell for $50,000. They still get more money for a better quality unit, thus there is still a profit incentive to maintain the property. But at the same time, the government keeps a rolling stock of affordable low income housing available.
Second, if an individual uses up all of the money from their CPF in health care, or in just retirement living, the government will cover the deficit, HOWEVER, the government then takes the property they own, such as their condo, and takes that as pledge for covering their health care or retirement. The Government then sells that condo back to the public as a low-income affordable housing, and in the process recoups the money spent covering of the former owners health care and retirement.
Again, and extremely free-market capitalist based system. Private ownership. Profit motive. And infinitely better than the American system.
Now Singapore Health care, is also vastly different.
A ton of people routinely talk about how expensive health care is in the US. But there are reasons. We live in a health care paradise compared to some places. Singapore is no exception.
We have a private TV with a remote, and cable. We have total Air Conditioning, and free WIFI, and most rooms have two people at most. And the truth is, if the average American went to an American hospital, and was treated the same as they are in Singapore, and most of the world, they would be bouncing off the walls.
Singapore Hospitals are split up into wards. Most stay in Class C wards.
This what you see here, is a Class C ward, which most Singaporeans use. Notice.... No TVs. No WIFI. No place to plug in your smart phone or laptop. Notice the fans mounted on the ceiling. That's "air-conditioning". No real AC at all. Notice the "privacy". Every Class C ward, holds 8 to 10 beds each. But even that, isn't really accurate. That implies a room, with 8 to 10 beds. Look at the back of this picture... that's not a mirror. There's no actual wall there. So you can see straight into the next ward, from this ward.
I have seen other photos, where some hospitals had people on bunk beds.
The point is this. Yes, health care is cheaper in Singapore. Are you ready to have this level of treatment? Because that WIFI, and two patients to a room, and air conditioning, and individual cable TV with remote... that all costs money.
Now they do have those full service, fully equipt rooms in Singapore, but you pay for it. The price goes dramatically up, the higher up the level you go.
Types of Wards Singapore General Hospital
Now a Class C ward, can be as little as $25 a day. But a Class A ward, which would be comparable to the American standard hospital room, is over $300 a day. So you spend $2,000 a week at the hospital, for an American standard room.
And of course, unlike the American system, where you just buy insurance, or have government cover it, in Singapore... again you are paying for it, out of your own money, from your own account. Thus people make economic choices, which limits cost.... because they are paying for it.
Again, a pay-for-service capitalist competition market system.
Now, I have done my Singapore worship, but of course there are some aspects people disagree with.
The most obvious is limitation on freedom of speech. Some might point to high penalties for breaking the law, but that's why Singapore is one of the safest tourist destinations in the world.
2. Singapore Singapore - TheRichest
While being the second highest population density in the world, it is also the 2nd safest city in the world.
In Conclusion, Singapore is a perfect example of free-market capitalism that works. I think there are a ton of lessons there we could learn from.
Why Singapore? Because it was amazing that America, established in 1776, was able in just 200 years to become the worlds sole super-power. We became the most wealthy, the most advanced, and the most power country in the world, in just 200 years, over other countries that existed for thousands of year. Singapore has been able to achieve a 1st world standard of living and economic growth, in a fraction of the time it required us. And we think of the start of the USA, as being in 1776, but in fact we were already populated and established economies by 1776. The Mayflower arrived in 1630. So really it required us 350 years to get to where we are.
But in 1819, Singapore didn't exist. It was swamp land, and a few hundred people in straw huts and fishing to eat. It was 1819 that the British showed up, and established a trading port on the Island of Singapore. In just 190 years, Singapore went from 200 people in straw huts, 6 million people, in a 1st world country, with one of the best education systems in the world, and highest rates of modern home ownership.
And their secret weapon? Capitalism, and free-markets. We should take note!
