Keeping inflation up is to keep cost of operation up. Honestly, I do not believe that inflation is that low when everything is going up in prices by leaps and bounds. The answer is always 'still affordable'. How long is that going to last? Do these people calculating inflation ever go to eat at coffeeshops or hawker centers or do marketing?
Keeping rentals up by the use of tendering of coffee shops and food outlets means vendors pay more and just have to pass the increases on to customers. Ever wonder why so many vendors and hawkers just close their business after decades of operation during the last year and this year?
Keeping transport costs up by the use of bidding for COEs is to keep operation costs up as well for businesses. It is just like the cat chasing its tail. Salary increases are for workers to cope up with the cost-of-living which businesses have to bear, but salaries will always lag behind increases in cost of living. Business owners of food outlets can only cope the best they can until they just give up.
In Red Dot, they Government is able to continue doing all that by throwing chicken wings now and then, but the rich get richer, while the poor and retirees have no room to wriggle. Rich entrepreneurs just pass on the high rental bids to vendors who then unload the increases to customers. And the Government and every rich businessman just keep laughing all the way to the bank.
Anonymous
1 comment:
How long can the chicken wing trick continue to work is anybody's guess. Nothing works forever. As the saying goes - You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time but cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Just take upgrading of HDB flats as an example. It was thought to be a fool-proof scam to win votes. Then suddenly someone asked about the 99-year lease expiration and what happens. Upgrading is not going to prevent the flat from being reduced to rubble when it reaches 99 years. So, upgrading came to a stop.
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