4 ms·

What's special, from a philosophical point of view, about Singapore? It's number 12 in the list, but is not explained why, besides the subclause of "in fact mos

What's special, from a philosophical point of view, about Singapore? It's number 12 in the list, but is not explained why, besides the subclause of "in fact most other places/polities in the world." So, specifically, what's special about the Singaporean government?

microcolonel 8y ago
That's the problem with meaningless nonsense: there's virtually nothing to it except the clickbait title.
coldtea 8y ago
How it combined a single party near-dictatorship with market success and lotsa consumption.
currymj 8y ago
the author (Tyler Cowen) regularly talks about how Singapore has a particularly effective and well-run government.
wenc 8y ago
If you've been following Marginal Revolution for a while, you'll know that Tyler Cowen (who has libertarian leanings) is endlessly fascinated by Singapore. It's one of the most free-market places in the world, yet it has huge government ("a high quality bureaucracy", as Tyler terms it). This pushes against the thinking of libertarians just slightly. The qualifier though is that for this to work the government has to be good -- and once you go beyond the size of a city-state, that becomes more difficult to achieve. Also, Tyler may not fully grasp the liberty you have to give up to achieve such a government in Singapore because he has never lived there. [1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/08/why-singapore-is-special.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/08/wh... [2] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/06/my-worries-about-singapore.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/06/my... [3] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/12/how-to-visit-singapore.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/12/ho...
- sp332 8y ago
  Disneyland with the Death Penalty (1993) https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ It's illegal to buy gum in Singapore without a prescription. You may like Singapore - here's a more positive take by Dan Sivers https://sivers.org/sg14 https://sivers.org/sg14 - but I've never heard it described as "free market" let alone anything that would appeal to a libertarian as such.
  - Xophmeister 8y ago
    That was a really good read. Wired should pay Gibson to write a 25-years-later follow-up!
    - wenc 8y ago
      You should also know that that Gibson article is a one-sided view that was written on the basis of a very short stay in Singapore. It's an entertaining opinion piece to be sure, but if you want to derive anything useful from it, I would advise reading it critically.

microcolonel 8y ago

That's the problem with meaningless nonsense: there's virtually nothing to it except the clickbait title.

coldtea 8y ago

How it combined a single party near-dictatorship with market success and lotsa consumption.

currymj 8y ago

the author (Tyler Cowen) regularly talks about how Singapore has a particularly effective and well-run government.

wenc 8y ago

If you've been following Marginal Revolution for a while, you'll know that Tyler Cowen (who has libertarian leanings) is endlessly fascinated by Singapore. It's one of the most free-market places in the world, yet it has huge government ("a high quality bureaucracy", as Tyler terms it). This pushes against the thinking of libertarians just slightly. The qualifier though is that for this to work the government has to be good -- and once you go beyond the size of a city-state, that becomes more difficult to achieve. Also, Tyler may not fully grasp the liberty you have to give up to achieve such a government in Singapore because he has never lived there. [1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/08/why-singapore-is-special.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/08/wh... [2] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/06/my-worries-about-singapore.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/06/my... [3] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/12/how-to-visit-singapore.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/12/ho...

sp332 8y ago
Disneyland with the Death Penalty (1993) https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/ It's illegal to buy gum in Singapore without a prescription. You may like Singapore - here's a more positive take by Dan Sivers https://sivers.org/sg14 https://sivers.org/sg14 - but I've never heard it described as "free market" let alone anything that would appeal to a libertarian as such.
- Xophmeister 8y ago
  That was a really good read. Wired should pay Gibson to write a 25-years-later follow-up!
  - wenc 8y ago
    You should also know that that Gibson article is a one-sided view that was written on the basis of a very short stay in Singapore. It's an entertaining opinion piece to be sure, but if you want to derive anything useful from it, I would advise reading it critically.