The Singapore way

The whole world hope you are right!!!

Flat with view. Typical HDB blocks are"too close for comfort", but their flats represent the “nest egg” for most Singaporean nearing pension age;


Here is a scheme to cash out part of that “nest egg”, while still living in the flat:

the USA defaulted once before…I think they forgot to raise the debt ceiling
yes its a game but getting more serious as USA spending keeps out stripping income.

In past years it was funded by trading partners using their USD to buy T bills etc for a safe interest bearing income. That comes with a few strings that despot dictators dont like so they are trying to avoid it.
(Russia and commies in general have never had succesful economies over anyones lifetime so I cant see it working. It will just be a collection of basket case economies.)

Large chunks of the world are now trying to not use the USD so that will reduce sales of t bills.
Will the US learn to live within its means?

IMHO the US is about to have a dip and then should bounce back with massive industrialisation as on shoreing continues. It has all the componets to do that, very few countries do.

yep, sell it before you have to give it back.
Leave singapore and get your CPF back too, many are doing just that.
The Gov driving up the Sing dollar has enabled that along with massive property inflation also caused by gov policy. Which allows then to charge more for the ‘subsidised’ government built housing.
In Singapore for the majority all your nest eggs are under 100% gov control…scary

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As was expected the negative view would be forthcoming:

Cash out parts of the value of your flat and still be able to live in it for life doesn’t sound bad, except for those who were hoping for a big inheritance, that is. They will be left with the residual value and have to build up their own nest egg for their retirement. :sob::cry:

Meanwhile you are having more money in your retirement, since much of your CPF savings went to pay for the flat over 30 year.
You can of course cash in ALL the value of your HDB flat by selling on the open market and move in with the kids. Or move out of Singapore and cash in your CPF savings as well and live like a king in a neighboring country, which many do.

MAS is managing the SGD against a trade weighted basket of currencies, not just the USD.
In colonial days Singapore used the Straits Dollars and later the Malaysian Ringgit. The SGD replaced MR in 1967, but they were still pegged until 1973. (Now the exchange rate is; 1SGD= MR3,31)

Since than the SGD was steadily risen against ALL currencies due to a strengthening economy, so that is nothing new, or “proof” that the present Gov. is doing something wrong. (On the contrary)
Source:

What will happen in the future is difficult to know, but one can make educated guesses:

Being a open and trade dependent economy Singapore is very much dependent on a stable world economy and free trade, so crossed fingers that the present China - US situation doesn’t escalate and cause serious disruptions to world trade and Singapore manage to stay friendly with both.

reality 4-5% of gdp spent on jacking the SGD
Why?
Can we guess, large USD debt interest bill and??
helping the exporters, not, so why?
Its certainly driving lots of business out of Singapore at the moment on top of rent and staff costs.
Most would be shocked at the amount of empty JTC industrial properties there are now and more every day.

The financial management of days gone by watched by LKY are long gone.

Likely so as the US can create money with the push of a button. Honoring US Treasury bonds is not a problem. The US government holds more Treasury bonds than any other country after Japan and China. The debt limit in the US is a silly way for politicians to negotiate who gets what. Working folks are at the bottom rung of the ladder as anyone can see when they start negotiating. This is not unique to the USA.

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From the linked article:

In other words; don’t save so much and spend more domestically. Don’t run a trade surplus with the US. If you do you get on the “watch list”.

yes you can print your own money BUT with a huge trade deficit how to keep the dollar value up?
https://www.bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/international-trade-goods-and-services

Thats whats at risk when there is less international demand for dollars as is being discussed now.

you conveniently skipped the part where Singapore spends a significant amount of GDP on manipulating its currency.

You could find something wrong with a week of only Sundays .

Have you got any statistics to prove that statement , or is it just the normal; “everything is wrong and nothing is good in Singapore, or in Asia in general”.

FYI: MAS manipulate the currency to keep the SGD from rising, thus make import cheaper and export more expensive. It is called “national interest” when others do it

Source: Here’s why Singapore made it onto the US currency watchlist | AJOT.COM

ah yes
the first paragraph of the article…
SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Singapore was added to a watch list for currency manipulation by the United States, which said the city-state made estimated net foreign exchange purchases of at least US$17 billion (S$23.48 billion) in 2018, equivalent to 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product.

That is an ESTIMATE, not statistical proof.

Its the MAS policy to manipulate the Singapore dollar, or dont you know how Singapore works?
THE MAS doesnt set interest rates in Singapore like most countries.
Its The Singapore Way

you can read all about it here

Yes I do. I have watch Singapore’s development since I first visited the Crown Colony in 1959 and followed Singapore policy since 1967. I don’t believe in neither fairytales nor conspiracy theories, only my own observations and experiences.

I notice you are linking to MAS’s official website to prove that their policy is somehow “suspect”. :slightly_smiling_face:
That MAS is “manipulating” the SGD to keep the exchange rate within a tight range for the good of Singapore is not a secret, so you are not going to get in trouble with Government for revealing it.

No knock on the door at dawn to cart you off to Changi (prison or airport), or to be given 24 stroke by the rattan. (You know, like they do to those foreigners that chew gum, or litter. :rofl:
Well, if you are over 50, you should be safe.

The hypocrisy about the US national debt ceiling is funny. Both Republicans and Democrats agree on the budgets and the cost but when the time comes to raise the “debt ceiling” they say they don’t have the money. During Reagan’s time the debt ceiling was raised 17 times for goodness sake. The debt ceiling is an artificial limit used by US politicians to get what they want for the friends and the average US citizen is not their friend. Even the clowns in the US congress know that if they don’t agree to pay for what they voted for there will be hell to pay

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For those who have access to Wapo:

Who says he don’t care about “the average US citizen”??

The big picture is the USA needs to keep borrowing more and more to survive till the interest bill is out of reach then an Argentina moment…
Declare bankruptcy now and give your grandchildren a future. ( as they say in Europe)

Look at what spending they want to cut.

Got the reverse in Singapore ( nothing to cut but the average citizen pays all the tax so fuel and GST etc going up) and the landed gentry contribute very little as the worlds best laws for wealthy people are here in Singapore. If your just arriving from China with bags of cash they get a nice bit of stamp duty when you buy that landed property. ( and a passport)
Then foreign reserves up as you drop your cash into the bank , then nothing.
So increased tax take ( when they need it) comes from the all the rest.

Its a great place depending on your circumstances…

Cant make head or tail of this comment
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/economic-growth-non-negotiable-singapore-even-shifts-social-compact-dpm-wong

Singapore very short of productivity and structural growth which is why the majority are getting left behind.
Having a booming property sector fills the govs pockets but in an export oriented country probably creates negative long term prosperity ( except for that ruling elite that had family owned landed properties and pocket millions in the sale, no capital gains tax in Singapore, yippee, buy a yacht, keep it foreign flagged no tax yippee, invest the rest in bank secuities for income, not taxable, yippee, buy a few foreign shares for capital gains and dividends, not taxible, yippee)
By a Ferrari, get slugged big time…

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