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Thanks for the reading list - very much appreciated (I've not heard of these books before)! Please add to the list any time you come across worthwhile things. BTW do you read Naked Capitalism (a blog)? - it's a good read and links to many other interesting places, and is very economics focused...

Just a quick response - well we agree democracy's not very effective. But it's better than the alternatives which lead to even worse outcomes (e.g. wannabe-benevolent dictatorships?). If we agree on this - we can move on to discussing how to make democracy work better rather than worse (more...

You're talking about shock doctrine a la Naomi Klein? As in - these are manufactured shocks, like post-9/11 War on Terrorism? Like Falklands War? I think you have a good point. You really think so? Is this targeted at those who want to "change things for the better"? Looks more like...

I think TFBH is saying is that policy wonkism has little traction with the general electorate. That means - even if SDP produces a great Healthcare proposal, a great Housing proposal - which neutral parties like academics think are potentially viable - the voters won't be able to evaluate these...

I agree that too many people have a lot invested (house, kids, etc) in the status quo and stability. If life is not too hard for them - they don't want to put what they already have (enjoy?) on the line to risk a better future. Only the marginalised and dispossessed and those who have not made...

I agree with you this is the status quo now. But it shouldn't be the case. We should overcome this with institutions like freedom of speech, a free press, a free (or at least balancedly diverse) academy (i.e. universities and thinktanks), strong civil and grassroots activity. Some of these...

Think of MacDonald's vs generic hawker centre food. Some gullible people (e.g. children!!!) think MacDonald's is a better product. But that's because Mac advertises aggressively at children. Why don't other firms advertise too? Well - small firms have no economies of scale, and low access to...

Does it matter who the MP is? Since a BE at this point won't have immediate consequences, this will be like a referendum on PAP performance since our last BE. People might not care which MP it is - they might just use it as a chance to give a score to PAP. Not saying that PAP won't win this BE...

Just thought of new situations... (arguably just opaque products similar to 2.) 3. Also, when short-term and long-term results are not related, e.g. some industries (short term profits can be gained by laying off skilled workers, replacing them with low cost but poorer ones, leading to worse...

Hmmm... I think metalmickey might be referring to the fact that political parties as consumption items might not be very clear to the electorate. He's afraid that the consumers might end up being irrational. Some cases I can think of where competition doesn't help consumers get a better...

Dude, the political masters of the civil service are the PEOPLE. The actual process is that the elected representatives i.e. MPs form Parliament and form a Cabinet, which represents the people in telling the civil service what goals to aim for (but the civil service should still provide the...

I used to be in the civil service (MOE), 2006 to 2010. It's not neutral at many levels. One problem is that civil service leaders don't make recommendations they think are good for society. They make recommendations their bosses want to hear, which is ultimately what the minister wants to...

Thanks! :) So I'm back. Here's what I was writing yesterday... Political parties here seem very resource-strapped, except for the PAP. You see this in WP - I have friends who volunteer at WP, and everyone (politicians and party cadre and volunteers) is just devoting time to grassroots...

(Yes I'm new - I signed up because the conversation here looks interesting. Hello guys :) ) I'm also an Aljunied WP voter (although I'm vaguely more aligned with SDP ideas). I have some thoughts about some people's demands for the opposition to have ideas or even be policy wonks. But I...