10/16/2009

What CBF?

What is CBF? Someone asked. It means cheaper, better and faster workers. Cheap and good, that’s what it means. How can cheap be good? Singaporeans only know that cheap means no good. You want anything good, you must pay for it. Good public housing, good market price. Good medical, high fees. Good govt, pay them well. If we are not willing to pay the price for it, we will get poor quality public housing, poor medical care and lousy quality govt. Can we really have good and cheap workers? But this is only one part of the equation. Can our workers afford to be cheap when housing is not cheap, medical is not cheap, govt is not cheap, cost of living is not cheap? Cheap worker and high cost of living is a ‘bao si’ or sure die combination. When housing, rentals and everything keep going up, how to get by if the pay is not going up? Ah, here is the secret. Cheap and better worker does not mean low wages. Our workers can expect their wages to go up. Productivity will be improved through mechanization or improvement in work processes. Or anyway, 3 workers do 7 workers’ work. It will mean higher productivity growth versus lower wage growth, but still growth, I think. Tiok boh?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the floodgate wide open, you think productivity will go up?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

As usual, people who don't understand economics or markets commit the same fallacies...

A Sign on a mechanic's wall tells customers very clearly:


1 CHEAP

2 GOOD

3 FAST

NOW ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PICK 2 OF THE ABOVE

Anonymous said...

Mati Diri says;

a fast death is death

a slow death is also death

it is all death.

What's the difference ?

Anonymous said...

Tiok.

3 workers doing 7 workers' job = more productivity (for employer's benefit of course).

3 workers getting 4 workers' wages for doing 7 workers' job = cheaper (for employers benefit again of course).

3 workers needed to be employed instead of 7 workers = ? (for employer's benefit again of course)

? = Equation stuck lah!

Anonymous said...

CBF = Con, Bullshit Fuck, !
Now who kena CBF if not lesser mortals ?

In Hokkien
CBF = Chee Bye Fucked