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The comments on that post are quite useful. Some useful points: a) lots of factories were idle in 2008 but ramped up in 2009 because of other countries' stimu

The comments on that post are quite useful. Some useful points: a) lots of factories were idle in 2008 but ramped up in 2009 because of other countries' stimulus allowed them to purchase Singapore's exports. b) looking at one year's results is silly c) Singapore has a very fluid labor force, including commuters from Malaysia that contribute to GDP but don't drag down per capita numbers, and foreign workers are removed from the country within 2 weeks of losing a job d) many people echo what ugh said here, that the two countries are so different that comparison is meaningless.

gojomo 16y ago
There are two fallacies that come into play when an American considers Singapore. One is to look at Singapore's positive results and assume we could have the same clean streets, low crime, efficient public works, growth-friendly environment with a tiny government sector if we only had the will. The other is to look at some of the key differences in culture/population/geography/governance and thus assume we have nothing to learn from them, "comparison is meaningless". The truth, and all interesting discussion, should come from somewhere in between. The USA is far from optimal and could learn a lot from other countries -- though we rarely look. (Indeed it's amazing how little US states like California seriously look at how other states are doing some things better.) But we'd best not cherry-pick the factoids that help our preferred side of some debate-of-the-moment.
- ugh 16y ago
  I should have made it clear that I don’t think that any comparison is useless. There is a whole world of already implemented policies out there, it would be stupid not to take advantage of that. It’s just that general statements about whole bundles of policies (“Look at Singapore and their policies, they brought them massive growth! We should adopt them.”) or even individual policies (“Look at France’s healthcare system! It’s working perfectly, we should copy it 1:1.”) are probably not enough. You will have to look at specific policies, their environment, the conditions under which they could succeed (or whether they did in the first place) and how they were implemented. Only then can you begin to judge whether those policies would also be a good idea for different countries.
ojbyrne 16y ago
He could have easily compared the US to Canada, which has also seen faster growth than the US, and is __much__ more comparable, but it doesn't fit with the particular ax he is trying to grind.

gojomo 16y ago

There are two fallacies that come into play when an American considers Singapore. One is to look at Singapore's positive results and assume we could have the same clean streets, low crime, efficient public works, growth-friendly environment with a tiny government sector if we only had the will. The other is to look at some of the key differences in culture/population/geography/governance and thus assume we have nothing to learn from them, "comparison is meaningless". The truth, and all interesting discussion, should come from somewhere in between. The USA is far from optimal and could learn a lot from other countries -- though we rarely look. (Indeed it's amazing how little US states like California seriously look at how other states are doing some things better.) But we'd best not cherry-pick the factoids that help our preferred side of some debate-of-the-moment.

ugh 16y ago
I should have made it clear that I don’t think that any comparison is useless. There is a whole world of already implemented policies out there, it would be stupid not to take advantage of that. It’s just that general statements about whole bundles of policies (“Look at Singapore and their policies, they brought them massive growth! We should adopt them.”) or even individual policies (“Look at France’s healthcare system! It’s working perfectly, we should copy it 1:1.”) are probably not enough. You will have to look at specific policies, their environment, the conditions under which they could succeed (or whether they did in the first place) and how they were implemented. Only then can you begin to judge whether those policies would also be a good idea for different countries.

ojbyrne 16y ago

He could have easily compared the US to Canada, which has also seen faster growth than the US, and is __much__ more comparable, but it doesn't fit with the particular ax he is trying to grind.