Serious Singapore Economy Drop From 1st To 5th Most Competitive Economy Thanks To Oppies And Sinkies Ignoring Safe Distance Ambassadors! U Happy Now?

[JohnTan]

SINGAPORE — The raging Covid-19 pandemic has sent Singapore tumbling from the top spot — which it held for two years in a row — to land fifth in the latest world competitiveness rankings of economies released on Thursday (June 17).

Switzerland took pole position in the 2021 Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking of 64 economies, while Singapore, which was the only Asian economy in the top five, was also overtaken by Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

This is the lowest ranking that Singapore has scored since 2013, when it also ranked fifth.

The world competitiveness rankings, which is released annually, assesses “the extent to which a country promotes the prosperity of its people”.

This is done by measuring economic well-being through hard data and survey responses from senior business executives within the respective economies.

IMD attributed Singapore’s fall in the rankings to the economic impact of the pandemic, which led to economic productivity shrinking.

The pandemic also led to a “sizeable worsening in public finances due to an increase in both government deficit and public debt” for Singapore, said IMD.

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The Government has committed close to S$100 billion across five budgets in 2020 to help Singapore weather the economic impact of the pandemic, amounting to almost 20 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

IMD added that Singapore has also seen a fall in employment and a slow down in productivity.

In 2020, Singapore recorded its sharpest fall in total employment in more than two decades.

In 2013, when Singapore last attained a fifth place ranking, IMD had said that the Republic could improve its competitiveness by strengthening assistance to people of low and middle incomes, as well as help firms keep cost pressures under control.

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IMD said that this year’s rankings expose the resilience of countries’ economies in dealing with the impact of the pandemic.

“The report finds that qualities such as investment in innovation, digitalisation, welfare benefits and leadership resulting in social cohesion have helped countries better weather the crisis... and thus ranked higher in competitiveness,” it said.

For example, top-ranked Switzerland, which was third last year, improved on its ranking due to its good showing in areas such as economic performance, particularly in international investment and employment, said IMD.

Switzerland also improved in the areas of business efficiency and management practices, said IMD.

The country also rose to first place for infrastructure and education, and took the third spot in health and environment components.

Singapore, meanwhile, took top spot in economic performance — up from third — and maintained its fifth placing in government efficiency, but fell from sixth to ninth in business efficiency and from seventh to 11th in infrastructure.

The IMD rankings show that Singapore is facing increased global competition and the country cannot afford to stand still or take its economic competitiveness for granted, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said.

"We must continually strive to provide an environment where businesses can thrive and create good jobs for our people," he said in a Facebook post. "We must also remain an open and connected hub for global businesses and talent."

"Singapore businesses must be able to seek out new opportunities and transform," he added. "Workers have to constantly upskill to remain relevant."

The Government, Mr Gan said, will review IMD’s report and enhance Singapore's competitiveness.

Following closely behind Singapore, the top Asian economies were Hong Kong (seventh), Taiwan (eighth) and China (16th).

The report noted that China had seen the sharpest rise in positions among Asian economies, where it was 20th place last year.

This rise continues the upward trajectory that China has been on for a decade, said IMD.

Director of the World Competitiveness Center, Arturo Bris, said that China has managed to do this by continuing to reduce poverty and boosting infrastructure and education.

“Still, China does not rank among the top 10 most competitive economies despite its size and GDP growth potential,” he said.

“But this is what competitiveness is about, prosperity, not necessarily growth.”

Within Asean, Malaysia was the next highest ranking country, taking the 25th spot — rising two places from last year’s rankings.
IMD attributed its rise to the improvements in the business efficiency of its private sector, as well as “relatively healthy public finances” despite the disruption brought about by Covid-19.

Three other Asean countries were part of the rankings — Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. They ranked 28th, 37th and 52nd respectively.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...veness-ranking-weakest-showing-2013-due-covid

 

[Dr Christopher Cheok C S]

probably due to WFH.

Actually I saved a lot of money due to WFH, less travelling, less expensive meals outside, less socializing.

 

[Leongsam]

Overtaken by Sweden???

Perhaps the Swedish response to Covid was the right one after all. It has balanced the need to saves lives with the need for people to be able to earn a living.

 

[Leongsam]

New Harvard Data (Accidentally) Reveal How Lockdowns Crushed the Working Class While Leaving Elites Unscathed​

The picture painted is one of working-class destruction.

Thursday, June 17, 2021​

Image Credit: tracktherecovery.org

Brad Polumbo​

News Briefs COVID-19 Lockdowns Harvard Employment


Founding father and the second president of the United States John Adams once said that “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” What he meant was that objective, raw numbers don’t lie—and this remains true hundreds of years later.

We just got yet another example. A new data analysis from Harvard University, Brown University, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation calculates how different employment levels have been impacted during the pandemic to date. The findings reveal that government lockdown orders devastated workers at the bottom of the financial food chain but left the upper-tier actually better off.

The analysis examined employment levels in January 2020, before the coronavirus spread widely and before lockdown orders and other restrictions on the economy were implemented. It compared them to employment figures from March 31, 2021.

The picture painted by this comparison is one of working-class destruction.

Employment for lower-wage workers, defined as earning less than $27,000 annually, declined by a whopping 23.6 percent over the time period. Employment for middle-wage workers, defined as earning from $27,000 to $60,000, declined by a modest 4.5 percent. However, employment for high-wage workers, defined as earning more than $60,000, actually increased 2.4 percent over the measured time period despite the country’s economic turmoil.

Image Credit: tracktherecovery.org

The data are damning. They offer yet another reminder that government lockdowns hurt most those who could least afford it.

Some critics argue that the pandemic, not government lockdowns, are the true source of this economic duress. While there’s no doubt the virus itself played some role, government lockdowns were undoubtedly the single biggest factor. It’s pretty intuitive that ordering people not to patronize businesses and criminalizing peoples’ livelihoods would hurt the economy. This intuition is confirmed by data and studies showing as much. And don’t forget the fact that heavy lockdown states have consistently had much higher unemployment rates than states that took a more laissez-faire approach.

Others might insist that the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 accomplished by lockdowns justifies this economic fallout. But this argument fails to account for the many peer-reviewed studies showing lockdown orders did not effectively slow the pandemic’s spread, or the painfully inconvenient fact that most COVID-19 spread occurred not in workplaces, restaurants, or gyms but at home. (Making “stay-at-home orders” seem like an astonishing mistake in hindsight.)

So, all lockdowns really seem to have accomplished is at best a mild delay in the pandemic’s trajectory in exchange for a host of lethal unintended consequences such as a mental health crisis and skyrocketing drug overdoses. And, as we now know, a highly regressive economic fallout for the working class.

Of course, Ivy League researchers almost certainly did not intend to expose the failings of big government pandemic policies when they set out to catalog employment data. But, as Adams said, facts are stubborn things.

 

[shittypore]

Lampar One or Fifth for Sinkies any difference, meh? Ceca will still take ur jobs, prices for pigeon hole still higher, Masters and Cronies still hve their Millions, minimum wage still

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Productive economy? In what sense? As in high quality of labour? High cost of living?

 

[pvtpublic]

New Harvard Data (Accidentally) Reveal How Lockdowns Crushed the Working Class While Leaving Elites Unscathed​

The picture painted is one of working-class destruction.

Thursday, June 17, 2021​

Image Credit: tracktherecovery.org

Brad Polumbo​

News Briefs COVID-19 Lockdowns Harvard Employment


Founding father and the second president of the United States John Adams once said that “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” What he meant was that objective, raw numbers don’t lie—and this remains true hundreds of years later.

We just got yet another example. A new data analysis from Harvard University, Brown University, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation calculates how different employment levels have been impacted during the pandemic to date. The findings reveal that government lockdown orders devastated workers at the bottom of the financial food chain but left the upper-tier actually better off.

The analysis examined employment levels in January 2020, before the coronavirus spread widely and before lockdown orders and other restrictions on the economy were implemented. It compared them to employment figures from March 31, 2021.

The picture painted by this comparison is one of working-class destruction.

Employment for lower-wage workers, defined as earning less than $27,000 annually, declined by a whopping 23.6 percent over the time period. Employment for middle-wage workers, defined as earning from $27,000 to $60,000, declined by a modest 4.5 percent. However, employment for high-wage workers, defined as earning more than $60,000, actually increased 2.4 percent over the measured time period despite the country’s economic turmoil.

Image Credit: tracktherecovery.org

The data are damning. They offer yet another reminder that government lockdowns hurt most those who could least afford it.

Some critics argue that the pandemic, not government lockdowns, are the true source of this economic duress. While there’s no doubt the virus itself played some role, government lockdowns were undoubtedly the single biggest factor. It’s pretty intuitive that ordering people not to patronize businesses and criminalizing peoples’ livelihoods would hurt the economy. This intuition is confirmed by data and studies showing as much. And don’t forget the fact that heavy lockdown states have consistently had much higher unemployment rates than states that took a more laissez-faire approach.

Others might insist that the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 accomplished by lockdowns justifies this economic fallout. But this argument fails to account for the many peer-reviewed studies showing lockdown orders did not effectively slow the pandemic’s spread, or the painfully inconvenient fact that most COVID-19 spread occurred not in workplaces, restaurants, or gyms but at home. (Making “stay-at-home orders” seem like an astonishing mistake in hindsight.)

So, all lockdowns really seem to have accomplished is at best a mild delay in the pandemic’s trajectory in exchange for a host of lethal unintended consequences such as a mental health crisis and skyrocketing drug overdoses. And, as we now know, a highly regressive economic fallout for the working class.

Of course, Ivy League researchers almost certainly did not intend to expose the failings of big government pandemic policies when they set out to catalog employment data. But, as Adams said, facts are stubborn things.

yes it's the poor who have been utterly crushed by this pandemic. and the decision to lock down was made by rich, powerful and old farts who were the most susceptible to the virus.

why did the powerful old farts overreact? for one they had the most to lose. more so if they believed this virus is weapons-grade lab produced.

and since then it appears other agendas have seized the golden opportunity brought by the pandemic to effect change in society.

1+1 doesn't = 2 anymore. good luck to all of us.

 

[batman1]

Pride of PAP .

 

[Leongsam]

One country is still in lockdown and masked up. The other isn't.

Guess which is which.

 

[JohnTan]

Overtaken by Sweden???

Perhaps the Swedish response to Covid was the right one after all. It has balanced the need to saves lives with the need for people to be able to earn a living.

Sweden in recent years, have imported in a lot of foreign talent from talent surplus countries like Eritrea, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan. That could have helped make their economy more competitive. I once saw a video about how Swedish ambulances in Malmo got more creative in their routes when responding to distress calls to foreign talent neighbourhoods.