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5/23/2008
Purchasing power down by 2.4%
According to Irvin Seah, an economist, and as reported in Today, his estimate is that 'the purchasing power of wage earners is now 2.4% lower than a year ago. I am wondering whose purchasing power is down by only 2.4%. Perhaps those earning $50k or $100k a month. I think my purchasing power must have gone down by at least 10%.
And for those whose income is primarily spent in food and transportation, I think it will be more than 20%. How many percent down will be someone who earns $800 pm when he has to spend $500 on food and $100 on transportation with the rest going to miscellaneous? Pray that he does not have a big medical bill to pay.
Price changes are not uniform throughout the economy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the 20% + figure. Govts and govt lackeys tend to underestimate the bad news and over state the good news.
It is important to remember this technique, should you ever want to "manipulate" people, but have reservations in lying to them outright.
The Govt's forecast of inflation at around 5-6% this year could be understated, but after all the hullabaloo a short while back, this kind of announcement seems to be rolled out and taken as a matter-of-factly now. Contrast what happens in Indonesia and elsewhere. That's why Singaporeans are easy to be manipulated and controlled.
ReplyDeletegosh, they really found out that there is something wrong with the statistics! how did they found out?
ReplyDeletenow they are going do some refinement to make them more relevant. oh, they realised that the consumption pattern of each income group is different.
better late than never.