Newsweek (October 25)
“The power of a U.S. passport has plummeted under President Donald Trump. American passports have now fallen behind those of 18 countries in terms of global mobility—a staggering collapse…. In 2015, the United States tied for first place with the United Kingdom on the list; last year, it slipped to fourth place. Americans now trails 18 countries, including Belgium, Japan, Sweden and first-place Singapore.” Japan tied for fourth place behind Singapore, Germany, Sweden and South Korea.
Tags: Belgium, Collapse, Germany, Global mobility, Japan, Passport, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Trump, U.S., UK
Reuters (July 11)
As its first family fights publicly in an unprecedented and ugly manner, the “shrinking returns” of its sovereign wealth fund, GIC, “are adding gloom to Singapore. The sovereign wealth fund, which manages an estimated $343 billion of assets, has delivered its worst annual performance since 2001 barring the financial crisis.” Moreover, the “outlook is depressing too” as GIC prepares for “a protracted period of low returns.”
Tags: Assets, Fight, Financial Crisis, First family, GIC, Gloom, Outlook, Performance, Returns, Singapore, Sovereign wealth fund, Ugly, Unprecedented
Bloomberg (September 23)
“Singapore has done it again. The city-state beat New Zealand to rank first in a survey of expat destinations for the second year running…. Singapore is the best place to live, work and raise a family abroad.”
Tags: Destinations Live, Expat, Family, First, New Zealand, Singapore, Survey, Work
Bloomberg (August 6)
“Efficient and incorruptible as the government has been, though, it would benefit from a bit more dissent.” As Singapore turns 50, the biggest danger is groupthink. “After 50 years of ceaseless striving, Singapore can afford to relax just a little. If it wants to keep amazing the world, and to extend its miracle into a new era, it may have to do just that.”
Tags: Ceaseless striving, Dissent, Efficient, Government, Groupthink, Incorruptible, Relax, Singapore
Washington Post (March 22)
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”
Tags: Asia, Democracy, Dictator, Indonesia, Lee Kuan Yew, Prospered, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Values, Virtues, Western
Wall Street Journal (June 1)
At this year’s annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, tensions were on full display. Chinese officers spoke in ways that “only reinforced fears that Beijing is on a collision course with the U.S. They accused the U.S. and Japan of using coercion and acting hegemonically, when everyone else in region says that describes Chinese behavior.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Coercion, Collision course, Japan, Officers, Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore, Tension, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 17)
“Asean countries are resisting today’s turbulence in emerging markets thanks to reforms taken in the wake of the late ‘90s crisis.” To be sure there are concerns, such as China’s slow down, “yet most investors believe the positives outweigh the potential negatives across most of the region.” This confidence is symbolized by Japanese foreign direct investment. “According to Singapore’s DBS Bank, Japan increased its FDI in Asia by $40 billion in 2013, and fully 42 percent of the country’s FDI is now in Southeast Asia—Considerably more than in China.”
Tags: Asean, Asia, China, Crisis, Emerging markets, FDI, Investors, Japan, Positives, Singapore, Slow down, Turbulence
Forbes (March 13)
“Like Iceland in its heyday, Singapore’s economic stability and vitality – on the surface at least – has made it the envy of the world at a time when most Western economies are languishing with feeble growth, and high rates of unemployment and poverty.” And, just like Iceland, the Switzerland of Asia will suffer when its economic bubble is punctured. In the meantime, “Singapore’s bubble economy may continue inflating for several more years if the U.S. Fed Funds Rate and SIBOR continue to be held at such low levels.”
Tags: Asia, Bubble, Economic stability, Fed, Growth, Iceland, Poverty, SIBOR, Singapore, Switzerland, U.S., Unemployment, Western economies
Bloomberg (January 22, 2014)
Bloomberg released its annual rankings of the best countries for business in 2013 and these were 1. Hong Kong, 2. Canada, 3. U.S., 4. Singapore, 5. Australia, 6. Germany, 7. United Kingdom, 8. Netherlands, 9. Spain and 10. Sweden. Japan slid from #3 in 2012 to #12, but still finished ahead of South Korea (#13) and China (#28).
Tags: Australia, Business, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Ranking, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, U.S., UK
Washington Post (December 5, 2013)
The U.S. does not test well. In contrast, Japan, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan swept top places for math, reading and science in the recent PISA global educational survey. Nevertheless, “the United States has done very well in harnessing the talents of its top 1 percent and in attracting the top 1 percent from the rest of the world to live and work here. These are the engines of innovation, growth and dynamism.” Whether they will keep the U.S. from falling behind, however, remains to be seen.
Tags: Dynamism, Education, Growth, Hong Kong, Innovation, Japan, Math, Reading, Science, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, Talent, U.S.