Population woes
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After we spend all out effort and energy to educate our young, then we tell them, forget about competing for high value jobs, here in Singapore, we only want the easy lifestyle.
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3Boys:
Greece's problem is very different. Theirs is due to over spending through budget deficit on social program. Ours is fighting to be the top few but in the process sacrificing on quality of living and a markedly higher stress level.
Right, lets all be Greece......WeiHan:
Is the government going to give a choice to the citizens?
i.e. More people prefer a less stressful lifestyle but settle with lesser value added jobs. Never mind we lose higher value jobs to Shanghai.
This is the most preposterous post in this thread yet. Guess what happens to the young unemployed persons in low-growth countries?
Hint: It involves buying a plane ticket. I'm sure more people prefer that. -
WeiHan:
Greece's problem is very different. Theirs is due to over spending through budget deficit on social program. Ours is fighting to be the top few but in the process sacrificing on quality of living and a markedly higher stress level.[/quote]
Right, lets all be Greece......3Boys:
[quote=\"WeiHan\"]Is the government going to give a choice to the citizens?
i.e. More people prefer a less stressful lifestyle but settle with lesser value added jobs. Never mind we lose higher value jobs to Shanghai.
This is the most preposterous post in this thread yet. Guess what happens to the young unemployed persons in low-growth countries?
Hint: It involves buying a plane ticket. I'm sure more people prefer that.
And how do you easily avoid deficit spending if you don't have a competitive economy that brings revenue to the coffers? Greece has a rigid economic system and labour laws, exactly what some people are proposing we adopt. -
WeiHan:
Greece's problem is very different. Theirs is due to over spending through budget deficit on social program. Ours is fighting to be the top few but in the process sacrificing on quality of living and a markedly higher stress level.[/quote]
Right, lets all be Greece......3Boys:
[quote=\"WeiHan\"]Is the government going to give a choice to the citizens?
i.e. More people prefer a less stressful lifestyle but settle with lesser value added jobs. Never mind we lose higher value jobs to Shanghai.
This is the most preposterous post in this thread yet. Guess what happens to the young unemployed persons in low-growth countries?
Hint: It involves buying a plane ticket. I'm sure more people prefer that.
And how do you easily avoid deficit spending if you don't have a competitive economy that brings revenue to the coffers? Greece has a rigid economic system and labour laws, exactly what some people are proposing we adopt. -
Over spending = Budget deficit
Easy life style = people with lesser income (= Pay lesser taxes) = but increasingly rely on social program = gov struggle to manage the budget deficit = Snowball = Another-Greece-in-making
(…every choice has it’s price… all it takes is 15 to 20 years!!) -
If I may add, a chief source of Greek pain is the uncompetitiveness of it’s economy. Yes, they have high debt, but then so do many other countries. The point is they have 25% unemployment because they don’t have the industries to compete with the rest of Europe. Overspending and debt then brings it crashing down. A competitive economy can work off high debt, an uncooperative one just stays unemployed.
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If I may add, a chief source of Greek pain is the uncompetitiveness of it’s economy. Yes, they have high debt, but then so do many other countries. The point is they have 25% unemployment because they don’t have the industries to compete with the rest of Europe. Overspending and debt then brings it crashing down. A competitive economy can work off high debt, an uncooperative one just stays unemployed.
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At a personal level, one can decide to take on a less stressful job with slightly less pay. It is a reasonable decision and doable in today’s Singapore with very low unemployment rate.
However, it is a different thing if a country were to do the same. The moment a country stops being competitive, it will indeed lose many high value-added jobs to other countries. Very soon, it is no longer about allowing less FT/FW and paying local people more. It is about whether to stay in Singapore to be unemployed/under-employed or go overseas and find employment as a FT or FW in another country. This is only applicable to those who are able and willing to move overseas. For the rest who don’t really have a choice, the govt will have to increase social spending to take care of them. And that’s how a country can end up in budget deficit. It is a slippery slope. -
3Boys:
After we spend all out effort and energy to educate our young, then we tell them, forget about competing for high value jobs, here in Singapore, we only want the easy lifestyle.
Exactly.. after educating them to perform high value jobs.. then they realized their wages suppressed due to influx of cheap unqualified foreign competition.....
Competitive in terms of skills, talent.. ok.. fair enough.. complete to be the cheapest? it will only demoralize them.. -
limlim:
You have quoted me out of context, it was a response to WeiHan's contention that we should dial back our economic competitiveness. That is not your position, is it?3Boys:
After we spend all out effort and energy to educate our young, then we tell them, forget about competing for high value jobs, here in Singapore, we only want the easy lifestyle.
Exactly.. after educating them to perform high value jobs.. then they realized their wages suppressed due to influx of cheap unqualified foreign competition.....
Competitive in terms of skills, talent.. ok.. fair enough.. complete to be the cheapest? it will only demoralize them..
In any case, you only look at one side of the equation, and may I say, you are being hyperbolic. Who in their right minds would hire unqualified persons to run their businesses? If they are equally qualified and cheap, then we have a big problem, because if they aren't working for us here in Singapore, they are working for our competitors in which case, sooner or later it will impact us, and in an even worse way.
If you think competing for jobs with foreigners in a 2% unemployment rate Singapore is stressful, wait till you are competing only with your own countrymen in a 25% unemployment rate (in a country that shall remain nameless). In the latter situation you don't have to worry about FW or FT.
Why only see one side of the story?
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