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>A family, incidentally, that is profiting handsomely from the policies it imposes on its citizens. Singapore has a higher GDP per capita than the United State

by eudox 10y ago

>A family, incidentally, that is profiting handsomely from the policies it imposes on its citizens. Singapore has a higher GDP per capita than the United States, and every Western country for that matter. Poverty is rare and the tax burder is low. Why would I resent the Prime Minister's pay if the country is prosperous and the government is efficient and effective?

hellofunk 10y ago
Let's chat again after you've gone to live there for awhile. What looks good on paper doesn't necessarily means it is what you expect.
adamt 10y ago
Singapore has a very impressive GDP per capita, but it is massively skewed by external investment (with money that often flows straight back out of the country again), construction and being a major regional hub. To say Singapore has a higher GDP than any Western country isn't quite a fair comparison. For contrast, the GDP per capita in London (pop 8.5M) which benefits similarly form being a regional hub has a GDP per capita of $73k [1] vs about $55k in Singapore (pop 5.4M) [2]. For a different picture try looking at a figure that looks at household wealth, e.g. household final consumption per capital. These numbers are less skewed by external investment and look at the real purchasing power of average people. On these figures (US$) taken from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD Singapore: $12,355 Switzerland $33,284 USA: $31,469 UK: $25,828 Germany: $21,769 By this metric Singapore is far behind most Western economies and is in the same basket as Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal. Don't get me wrong, the progress that has been made in Singapore is amazing. I just think it is far too easy to be dazzled by high GDP figures, and miss out on the bigger picture. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_the_European_Union_by_GDP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_... [2] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
- eudox 10y ago
  >By this metric Singapore is far behind most Western economies and is in the same basket as Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal. Thanks for showing me the numbers in a different light. Updated. >I just think it is far too easy to be dazzled by high GDP figures, and miss out on the bigger picture. This is true, but then again, part of the bigger picture is the country is run by very visibly smart and competent people.

by eudox 10y ago

hellofunk 10y ago

Let's chat again after you've gone to live there for awhile. What looks good on paper doesn't necessarily means it is what you expect.

adamt 10y ago

Singapore has a very impressive GDP per capita, but it is massively skewed by external investment (with money that often flows straight back out of the country again), construction and being a major regional hub. To say Singapore has a higher GDP than any Western country isn't quite a fair comparison. For contrast, the GDP per capita in London (pop 8.5M) which benefits similarly form being a regional hub has a GDP per capita of $73k [1] vs about $55k in Singapore (pop 5.4M) [2]. For a different picture try looking at a figure that looks at household wealth, e.g. household final consumption per capital. These numbers are less skewed by external investment and look at the real purchasing power of average people. On these figures (US$) taken from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD Singapore: $12,355 Switzerland $33,284 USA: $31,469 UK: $25,828 Germany: $21,769 By this metric Singapore is far behind most Western economies and is in the same basket as Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal. Don't get me wrong, the progress that has been made in Singapore is amazing. I just think it is far too easy to be dazzled by high GDP figures, and miss out on the bigger picture. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_the_European_Union_by_GDP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_... [2] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

eudox 10y ago
>By this metric Singapore is far behind most Western economies and is in the same basket as Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal. Thanks for showing me the numbers in a different light. Updated. >I just think it is far too easy to be dazzled by high GDP figures, and miss out on the bigger picture. This is true, but then again, part of the bigger picture is the country is run by very visibly smart and competent people.