3 ms·

Part of that is from population growth. We can control for population growth by using GDP per capita: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/SGP/singapore/gdp-pe

by frank2 6y ago

Part of that is from population growth. We can control for population growth by using GDP per capita: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/SGP/singapore/gdp-per-capita https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/SGP/singapore/gdp-per-... --which gives a rate of growth of 10.7%, and some of that will be inflation: the data is denominated in USD, which famously inflated rapidly in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Here is my math: solve for rate where e ^ (31 times rate) = 11828 / 428. (I am compounding continuously.) ADDED. according to https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm, the dollar inflated by a factor of 4.39 between 1959 and 1990, giving an inflation-adjusted rate of 5.93%. I wonder what South Korea's economy did during those years.

MrPowers 6y ago
The macrotrends website says "Data are in current U.S. dollars", so the number I presented should be the real GDP growth rate. I think correcting for population growth is OK, but don't think your inflation calculation is correct.
- beefman 6y ago
  "Current dollars" means nominal dollars. Inflation-adjusted data are called "constant dollars". The desired series are here https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD Over the 29 years 1960-1989, Botswana experienced the greatest growth at 11.6%/year, followed by South Korea at 9.6% and Singapore at 8.6%. World growth was 4.1%, and U.S. growth was 3.6%. The worst performer was Guyana at 0.6%. (This among only those countries with available data at the start and end years.) The same comparison for the period 1990-2019 shows top performer Equatorial Guinea at 15.0%/year, followed by China at 9.5%. Singapore weighed in at 5.6%, the World at 2.8%, and the U.S. at 2.5%. Bottom performer was Ukraine at -1.4%, and second-worst was Georgia at 0.2%. Former bottom performer Guyana faired much better at 3.8%. Population does not cause GDP. Adjusting for population will give a better idea of changes in living standards but won't explain the differences in economic growth. Population density may be related to economic growth, and for this reason it may be misleading to compare Singapore, which is essentially a city-state, to nation-states.
notahacker 6y ago
The time series you linked to is already inflation adjusted, so I'm not sure why you're adjusting again. On a more practical level, over that period it went from a colony whose inhabitants mostly lived in shanty towns to somewhere William Gibson compared to Zurich, Atlanta and Disneyland in an essay complaining about the dullness of its prosperity. Singapore's per capita GDP was close to double South Korea's in 1990, though its divorce from Malaysia was less messy than the Korean War.

by frank2 6y ago

MrPowers 6y ago

The macrotrends website says "Data are in current U.S. dollars", so the number I presented should be the real GDP growth rate. I think correcting for population growth is OK, but don't think your inflation calculation is correct.

beefman 6y ago
"Current dollars" means nominal dollars. Inflation-adjusted data are called "constant dollars". The desired series are here https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD Over the 29 years 1960-1989, Botswana experienced the greatest growth at 11.6%/year, followed by South Korea at 9.6% and Singapore at 8.6%. World growth was 4.1%, and U.S. growth was 3.6%. The worst performer was Guyana at 0.6%. (This among only those countries with available data at the start and end years.) The same comparison for the period 1990-2019 shows top performer Equatorial Guinea at 15.0%/year, followed by China at 9.5%. Singapore weighed in at 5.6%, the World at 2.8%, and the U.S. at 2.5%. Bottom performer was Ukraine at -1.4%, and second-worst was Georgia at 0.2%. Former bottom performer Guyana faired much better at 3.8%. Population does not cause GDP. Adjusting for population will give a better idea of changes in living standards but won't explain the differences in economic growth. Population density may be related to economic growth, and for this reason it may be misleading to compare Singapore, which is essentially a city-state, to nation-states.

notahacker 6y ago

The time series you linked to is already inflation adjusted, so I'm not sure why you're adjusting again. On a more practical level, over that period it went from a colony whose inhabitants mostly lived in shanty towns to somewhere William Gibson compared to Zurich, Atlanta and Disneyland in an essay complaining about the dullness of its prosperity. Singapore's per capita GDP was close to double South Korea's in 1990, though its divorce from Malaysia was less messy than the Korean War.