The 5 Richest Countries In The World No. 1: Singapore, $61,567 Per Person

[Crumpler]

 No. 1: Singapore, $61,567 per person  :yuk: 

 

 

The wealthiest nation in the world's top 50 economies has been one of the hottest growth stories in recent years. Singapore's emergence as a business hub and tax haven -- research firm WealthInsight predicts that the country will surpass Switzerland as the world's largest offshore wealth hub by 2020 -- has been a boon for its population's standard of living. Foreign investment has poured into the nation, turning Singapore into Southeast Asia's pre-eminent economy. The country is expected to gain even more in the next few years, with the IMF expecting Singapore's GDP per capita to rise to an astounding $77,000 by 2018.

The iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund (NYSEMKT: EWS  ) has performed well alongside the country's growth, gaining more than 22% over the past year. The ETF is weighted heavily toward finance and real estate, with more than half of its assets in those two sectors. While the Singapore ETF will likely continue to rise with the nation's economy, don't expect rapid gains from an index fund like this.

A global economy on the upswing
As the world claws out of the depths of the 2008 recession, standards of living are poised to continue increasing around the globe. That's good for the world's population and investors alike as stocks take advantage of this new wave of growth. This is the kind of growth everyone has a stake in.

 

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:clap:

Edited May 21, 2013 by Crumpler

[Guest Raiden Alpha]

Who? Where?

You give me ah ? Haha silly article.

Anyway thanks for posting it up for entertainment Crumpler.

[angel_dust]

Such articles are created to fool dumb, ignorant, myopic, egoistic, elitist folks. We don't buy that.

[Guest Guest]

this kind of article misled foreigners too.

 

when i was in uni and was working part time furiously to fund my fees, some pinoy staffs actually asked me why i need to work so hard cos they thought all sporeans are rich

[SoSonni]

Say hi to the gini coefficient.

[outernet]

The article might have said Sg is one of the 5 richest countries. But seriously, I personally see no reason to celebrate this glamour.

[escapade]

What about the income inequality?  The income gap between the rich and poor in SG is too great.  Need to take into consideration about the income inequality to paint a more accurate picture about the level of wealth in SG.  There are still elderly cleaning tables at hawker centres and food courts or working as cleaners.  Isn't the CPF supposed to provide them some money after they retire? 

[Enelym1978]

What is also quite an interesting read is the annual UBS Prices and Earnings report. Strange enough, Singapore is not included in the survey... I wonder why...

 

For the summary:

http://www.ubs.com/global/en/about_ubs/media/global/releases/news_display_media_global.html/en/2012/09/14/20120914a.html

 

For the full report:

http://www.static-ubs.com/global/en/wealth_management/wealth_management_research/prices_earnings/_jcr_content/par/columncontrol/col1/linklist/link_0.1393999310.file/bGluay9wYXRoPS9jb250ZW50L2RhbS91YnMvZ2xvYmFsL3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50L3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50X3Jlc2VhcmNoL1BfTF8yMDEyX2VuLnBkZg==/P_L_2012_en.pdf

[Enelym1978]

What about the income inequality?  The income gap between the rich and poor in SG is too great.  Need to take into consideration about the income inequality to paint a more accurate picture about the level of wealth in SG.  There are still elderly cleaning tables at hawker centres and food courts or working as cleaners.  Isn't the CPF supposed to provide them some money after they retire? 

 

For Singapore, as for other big cities in Asia (such as HK, Shanghai, Tokyo), some results are skewed if the surveys are not done properly. You are right, the high density of millionaires in Singapore pulls the stats up a bit and make it look like everyone, on average, is so rich.

[gstc82]

What about the income inequality? The income gap between the rich and poor in SG is too great. Need to take into consideration about the income inequality to paint a more accurate picture about the level of wealth in SG. There are still elderly cleaning tables at hawker centres and food courts or working as cleaners. Isn't the CPF supposed to provide them some money after they retire?

will it be better if its the young cleaning tables at food courts? Or shd we expect robots to do it?

[Guest Guest]

will it be better if its the young cleaning tables at food courts? Or shd we expect robots to do it?

 

The PAP spokeslackey speaks again...

[glowingember]

There's nothing wrong if the young does the clearing of tables. It's an honest job and it instills humility. There's nothing wrong if the elderly does it too. But something is very wrong if the elderly has to do it because there's no other help available.

[HydroNaut]

will it be better if its the young cleaning tables at food courts? Or shd we expect robots to do it?

 

What he mean is....with the increasing withdrawal age that the governement is pushing up.... I guess next time, we might have to hit 100years old in order to withdraw all our CPF monies till then the elderly still need to earn their livelihood through hard labour (i.e dish washing, cleaning and F&B) cause hardly companies would be employing them in a easy office environment. Crazy isn't it?

 

It is our hard earned monies yet, we might never see it even after we leave this world so what is this retirement CPF benefit us?

[gstc82]

What he mean is....with the increasing withdrawal age that the governement is pushing up.... I guess next time, we might have to hit 100years old in order to withdraw all our CPF monies till then the elderly still need to earn their livelihood through hard labour (i.e dish washing, cleaning and F&B) cause hardly companies would be employing them in a easy office environment. Crazy isn't it?

It is our hard earned monies yet, we might never see it even after we leave this world so what is this retirement CPF benefit us?

true, to a certain part. On the other hand, if the govt gives all the cog at 55, how long will it last? If he spends it all in 2 years, who will support him for the next 20yeats? It's a fine balance.

[HydroNaut]

true, to a certain part. On the other hand, if the govt gives all the cog at 55, how long will it last? If he spends it all in 2 years, who will support him for the next 20yeats? It's a fine balance.

 

Well, it is no different like what is the policy now....the monies is parked inside....can see cannot touched and he/she still have to slog for survival with mere $200 a month from the CPF. I rather we have the monies in our hands, how eventually the monies goes to and be spent we should have the final decision in it.

 

I heard from a elder, ever since we make loses in the China Business Park project....the CPF withdrawal age shot up, it might just be another way to cover up the loses.

[fab]

http://thehearttruths.com/2013/02/21/singapore-has-the-highest-income-inequality-compared-to-the-oecd-countries/

 

Singapore Has The Highest Income Inequality Compared to the OECD Countries

Posted on February 21, 2013by My Right to Love

In the Today newspaper today, it was reported that the current way that Singapore computes the Gini coefficient (which is a measure of income inequality) is “based on household income from work per household member, as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan do.”

According to Today, “some countries compute their Gini coefficients based on … the “square root scale” (used in some OECD reports), which “take into account that households may enjoy economies of scale when sharing resources among household members”.

According to the current way, “Singapore’s Gini coefficient of 0.478 last year, before accounting for Government transfers and taxes, is on a per-household-member basis.” According to the “modified OECD scale” Singapore’s Gini coefficient is “0.435 if the square root scale is used” and would be 0.414 after Government transfers and taxes.

All fine and well, right? If Singapore’s Gini coefficient is adjusted downwards based on a different scale, it looks like Singapore’s income inequality is actually not that high, right?

Singapore Has The Highest Income Inequality Compared to the Economically-Developed OECD Countries

Not really. What the Key Household Income Trends 2012 report doesn’t tell you that even if we use OECD’s scale to compute Singapore’s Gini coefficient, Singapore still has the highest income inequality, as compared to all the other developed economies in the OECD.

I had looked at the OECD Stats Extract and obtained the following statistics (of selected countries), in the chart below.

[Guest Passingthru]

What's basically happening is the increase in money supply due mainly to money printing/creation by central banks around the world.  This money then goes into banks( many are actually insolvent! ) to shore up their balance sheets.  Since the banks are reluctant to lend this money lest their balance sheets look poor, what they do instead is to pump it into the stock market.  Hence the current boom in stocks and shares despite the reality of very poor global economic fundamentals.  The sudden gains from the stock market spill over into consumption which in turn creates inflation.  The man on the street bears the brunt of:

 

- inflation which doesn't match wage increments

- GST

- various other taxes and fees

-  poorer job prospects due to the reality of less/no genuine industry

 

While the comparatively stronger Singdollar makes for cheaper imports, price of goods remain high due to high business costs.

 

Singapore, being a paper economy, runs a high risk of a sudden collapse.  Much of her wealth is from direct money transference via money parking through financial services and immigration, taxation and gaming+leisure.  Money flowing in with such relative ease can also flow out likewise.  Anyway, such economies always have the same profile - huge wealth gaps between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.  This is a very fragile situation and things always unravel as equilibrium rears its head.  It's just a matter of time.