TR EMERITUS

The release of the unemployment statistics two days ago brought home the folly of current policy. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_761247.html While the government prided itself on creating 121 thousand jobs last year two-thirds of these went to foreigners. Manufacturing employment hardly... 

A highly misleading article from the ST, portraying that the more well-off would be far more affected by inflation than less well-off was reported this morning. This is as good as a public lie. Sometimes I feel that some journalists smell as bad as the politicians they try to bootlick. . Inflation hit three-year high of... 

In view of recent developments regarding social issues like the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street (and its affiliates) and of course the results of our recent General & Presidential Elections, the way society in general has evolved has been increasingly called into question. Issues like income disparity, moral erosion... 

2011 will be remembered as a year of extreme turbulence. From Arab Spring uprising culminated in violent revolution and regime change in MENA to Fukushima twinning of earthquake/tsunami and nuclear disaster, the unprecedented massive month–long flooding in Thailand and near implosion of sovereign debt crisis in Europe,... 

In 1985, Singapore plunged into its first recession, and the minister responsible for the economy at that time was Dr Tony Tan, who has trumpeted on his financial and economic acumen in this Presidential Election. Dr Tony Tan joined the Cabinet in 1980, and he was the Minister for Trade & Industry (1981–86) and Minister... 

The Singapore Democrats warned on this website on 19 Jul 11 of the uncertainty of the global economic situation: The global financial and economic system is far from the stability that it portrays. The US is grappling with its budget deficit with President Barack Obama presently dueling with the Republicans over America’s... 

Global economy turned amber this week, I   warned of this on 21 May 2011 at http://www.tremeritus.com/2011/05/21/what-is-next-in-economic-policy-rethinking/.  Seemingly 8 weeks “behind the curve”,  our  most learned Finance Minister, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam,  shared the same sluggish global economic thoughts... 

One week after Iceland faced bankruptcy, Singapore guaranteed $700 billions deposits of various currencies. This blanket guarantee included foreign banks which had financial troubles in hundreds of billions of dollars. (References: Monetary Authority of Singapore Press Release on 16 Oct. 2008 and Deputy Chairman of MAS... 

Singaporeans were allowed a rare peek at how Temasek was doing with the monopoly money today. Analysts like APS Asset Management generally agree that the rates of return achieved were “respectable”, but not “particularly impressive”. Said one, “It’s not a figure you can be jubilant about.”... 

Recently the govt announced another increase of CPF minimum sum(MS) to $131,000 from $123,000.  For many who are unfamiliar, this sum seems somewhat astonishing and arbitrary but the rules and rationale for the minimum sum was laid out during Goh Chok Tong’s time as PM in 2003. The goal was to raise minimum sum to...