7/23/2009

That deadly deficit hangover

Tharman was talking about economic principles and the need for exit strategies and direct, targeted help. On govt spending and fiscal policies he warned that govts need an exit strategies for over spending or else the bubble will burst. This tickles my thought about exit strategies for the high property prices and the payback of our CPF money. What kind of exit strategies are there to prevent the bubble bursting, or to prevent the poor 99 lease holders from seeing their multi million dollar properties turning to 0 value when the leases expire? And the huge CPF debt owed to the CPF contributors, how and when would they be returned? Delaying payout, shifting the goal posts, more schemings, would only delay the problems but would not solve it. In fact the problem will only snowball unless there is a workable exit strategy to pay back when the money is due. The two nightmares that Singaporeans are facing are, one, when their properties, worth millions of dollars, become nothing. The second nightmare is when they realise that the CPF money is only a dream, to feel good, to be happy reading the numbers on a piece of paper and feel very rich. And yes, Tharman still thinks that it is a bad idea not to tax on basic necessities. It is better to tax on them and then targetted the money collected to those who need the money. An excellent strategy which I still don't agree. Just like the strategy of escalating property prices.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is only one exit strategy left for SINGAPOREANS.

Sell everything and leave Singapore for good.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

agree completely. the writing is all there, take your money and be rich in another land. sell out to the next sucker.

Anonymous said...

Singaporeans should thank their lucky starts for having a govt with such forward thinking agendas. Where else can one find such affluence and high standard of living. On such a small island with a 4.8 million population you can only see happy faces and very little poverty. Eucation is one of the best in the region, medical facilities are second to none, everybody have a roof over his head, infrastructure is very good and there is peace and tranquility all over. What more do you want???

If all these are not sufficient for you, please pack up and leave.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

the citizens of this island will not pack up and leave. they will stay and protect their rights to this island.

hi anonymous, are you from the officialdom or a new citizen?

nothing personal, just to know where you are coming from. i am doing a survey on who thinks that this is paradise and should accept everything that is happening or who is complaining about things that are not right and wanting this place to be better for its citizens.

Anonymous said...

Those Singaporeans not leaving are those prepared to slog and slave for the country.

Great citizens is what SIN is blessed with.

Anonymous said...

redbean, this is what I don't understand. You say Singaporeans will stay and protect their rights. In this case I assume their CPF. If CPF has been lost and squandered, there is nothing to protect. Best we can hope is that eventually, we live long enough to see some of our CPF contribution. Not all will be lost but it is still tragic if we can only get some of it back. To think that we pay all these ministers millions when they are doing such a pathetic job. And they can't be fired. Singapore still has a fairly high standard of living compared to its neighbours. But if this kind of mistake keep happening, Singapore will be a very different place in 20 years. Remains to be seen how the ruling class will react if the people do not support them anymore. Gracefully move aside or hold on to power at any cost. Singapore will probably not decline due to rampant corruption but it will decline when the government are incompetent and believe that their right to rule is irrevocable. Perhaps in 20 years will be where Philippines is today and in 50 years we will be where Burma is today. I sincerely hope things will change long before that.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

a very big hole has been dug after the fiasco in our overseas long term investment. we do not know how big is this hole. it is now very important to make sure that this hole is patched. we may need more to import more foreigners to contribute to our reserves or pray that all the stock and asset values are pump up, including property prices. but this will bring along more problems.

the best thing is to keep voting the supertalents to be in govt and let them fix it. the lesser talents or lesser mortals will not be able to do anything. it is between the devil and the deep blue sea.

don't rock the boat if you want it to stay afloat : (