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Straits Times Says Salaries Are Low Because of High Inflation
The Straits Times on Saturday carried an article which wanted to convince Singaporeans to believe that the reason our starting salaries have remained stagnant is because of inflation.
The article stated that, “rising prices, more so than competition from foreigners, are to blame for starting salaries flatlining in recent years.” Really, what do you think of this, readers?
For readers who have been reading this blog, you would know that I do not believe that we should think that foreigners are the cause of this country’s problem, nor should we blame them. As I’ve explained several times, the reason is with bad government policies, so rightfully we should blame the government.
I’m not one to believe in blaming, but for the intention of this article, let’s look at who we need to blame.
Why Did The Straits Times Write The Article?
First, what is the purpose of Straits Times’ article? When I read the article, the glaring question in my mind was – why did The Straits Times even put out this article? What was its purpose?
There was no clear conclusion at the end of the article. Sure, so now we know that The Straits Times claimed that inflation is the main reason for stagnating salaries, what does The Straits Times believe the government should do? What plans are there for the government to ameliorate rising inflation, or who should we blame?
As I’ve said, if the reason for stagnating salaries would be attributed to the influx of foreigners, rightfully, we would need to blame the government for bad policies. However, if the reason is due to rising inflation, who should we blame?
For the rest of the article, I hope to ask the reader some questions, so that we are able to have a better self-understanding to the most pertinent issue that surrounds Singaporeans at the moment.
But Who Caused Prices to Increase?
Think about it – what are some of the greatest rises in prices? Housing and cars? Who caused the prices of houses and cars to rise? The rich people? Ok, fine – but rising prices are finally starting to slow down this year, so why can prices suddenly slow down? Very obviously, because of new policies introduced in Budget 2013. So, who then caused prices to come down? – the government. Can you still blame the rich people for causing prices to go up? They are still buying the houses and cars, but why are prices coming down (slightly)? Because of government intervention which has introduced additional costs to purchase housing and cars, which has driven down price speculation. So, we should thank the government right? My question is this – the government had known that costs were ballooning out of control for the past few years now – if they could intervene to control the rise in prices, why did they not do so earlier? And if they did not do so earlier when they could, who is in fact the cause of the high inflation in Singapore?
Prices did not just start to rise out of nowhere. The prices rose because the government wanted to invite the rich to come to the Singapore. The government wanted the rich to come and spend on big budget items – housing and cars – so that the government can earn revenue from them. And in order for the government to be able to earn from them, the government wants prices to keep rising. Is there any surprise why the government didn’t want to introduce decisive policies to prevent price speculation, until this year when they were finally forced by the people to do so, and only because ordinary Singaporeans were priced out of buying housing and cars?
The Real Reason for Suppressed Salaries – Companies Did Not Want To Give Higher Salaries
Now, back to the article – The Straits Times had wanted us to believe that inflation was the cause of our salaries which have stagnated. If it was true that inflation is the main cause, who then is to be blamed for high inflation? Yes – the government.
But this is all on the premise that the assumption that the article made was true – that inflation caused stagnating salaries. If you look at the article and the chart below that The Straits Times had created, you can see that for the lowest growth in starting pay, the salaries had remained the same in 2008 and 2012.
The Straits Times on Saturday carried an article which wanted to convince Singaporeans to believe that the reason our starting salaries have remained stagnant is because of inflation.
The article stated that, “rising prices, more so than competition from foreigners, are to blame for starting salaries flatlining in recent years.” Really, what do you think of this, readers?
For readers who have been reading this blog, you would know that I do not believe that we should think that foreigners are the cause of this country’s problem, nor should we blame them. As I’ve explained several times, the reason is with bad government policies, so rightfully we should blame the government.
I’m not one to believe in blaming, but for the intention of this article, let’s look at who we need to blame.
Why Did The Straits Times Write The Article?
First, what is the purpose of Straits Times’ article? When I read the article, the glaring question in my mind was – why did The Straits Times even put out this article? What was its purpose?
There was no clear conclusion at the end of the article. Sure, so now we know that The Straits Times claimed that inflation is the main reason for stagnating salaries, what does The Straits Times believe the government should do? What plans are there for the government to ameliorate rising inflation, or who should we blame?
As I’ve said, if the reason for stagnating salaries would be attributed to the influx of foreigners, rightfully, we would need to blame the government for bad policies. However, if the reason is due to rising inflation, who should we blame?
For the rest of the article, I hope to ask the reader some questions, so that we are able to have a better self-understanding to the most pertinent issue that surrounds Singaporeans at the moment.
But Who Caused Prices to Increase?
Think about it – what are some of the greatest rises in prices? Housing and cars? Who caused the prices of houses and cars to rise? The rich people? Ok, fine – but rising prices are finally starting to slow down this year, so why can prices suddenly slow down? Very obviously, because of new policies introduced in Budget 2013. So, who then caused prices to come down? – the government. Can you still blame the rich people for causing prices to go up? They are still buying the houses and cars, but why are prices coming down (slightly)? Because of government intervention which has introduced additional costs to purchase housing and cars, which has driven down price speculation. So, we should thank the government right? My question is this – the government had known that costs were ballooning out of control for the past few years now – if they could intervene to control the rise in prices, why did they not do so earlier? And if they did not do so earlier when they could, who is in fact the cause of the high inflation in Singapore?
Prices did not just start to rise out of nowhere. The prices rose because the government wanted to invite the rich to come to the Singapore. The government wanted the rich to come and spend on big budget items – housing and cars – so that the government can earn revenue from them. And in order for the government to be able to earn from them, the government wants prices to keep rising. Is there any surprise why the government didn’t want to introduce decisive policies to prevent price speculation, until this year when they were finally forced by the people to do so, and only because ordinary Singaporeans were priced out of buying housing and cars?
The Real Reason for Suppressed Salaries – Companies Did Not Want To Give Higher Salaries
Now, back to the article – The Straits Times had wanted us to believe that inflation was the cause of our salaries which have stagnated. If it was true that inflation is the main cause, who then is to be blamed for high inflation? Yes – the government.
But this is all on the premise that the assumption that the article made was true – that inflation caused stagnating salaries. If you look at the article and the chart below that The Straits Times had created, you can see that for the lowest growth in starting pay, the salaries had remained the same in 2008 and 2012.
