A look around the neighbourhood seems to suggest the numbers are under-inflated. An increment in Chicken rice prices from $2 to $2.50 since last year represent a 25% increase. And what about the astronomical rise in taxi fares?
With the large boom in commodity prices (price of rice on the stock market have doubled since last year), people are wondering whether it is going to be like a dot-com kind of bubble, or a permanent fixture.
Economist jobs have never been more interesting. A possible US recession coupled with the record inflation could only mean one thing - adding fuel to the already hot fire.
Watch with interest how the various country government are handling the issue. Indonesians going on strike over soaring petrol prices, and Malaysia government coming up with controls to prevent Singaporean drivers driving to Malaysia for cheap top-ups. See up-and-coming countries like Vietnam having their inflation rate up to 25.2 percent in May.
All hail the mighty US dollar.
For the past few decades, developing nations have been too wasteful on food and resources. Jim Rogers mentioned that no major oil field has been discovered for the past 40 years. And food is dwindling as some farmers start switching to grow supposedly profitable bio-fuel crops over consumable essential food.
Mother Nature is doing a karma on us, in an economic sense. And people are pointing fingers at each other.
Its a pity that rice farmers don't double their income over the past year. Commodity speculators and rice traders are the ones who stand to benefit from the big increase.
Talk about the rich getting richer.
Money gives people more leverage for exponential financial growth.
Blame it on the speculators.
Blame the oil cartel.
Blame the government (but hey, they have to worry about deficits too).
Blame it to the "greedy" hawker.
Why not blame it on yourself?
High inflation is here to stay. Our prices were way too cheap before. And we have taken them for granted.
But admist all the gloom and doom, hope is not lost.
For every problem lies an opportunity.
And this is an opportunity to take a step forward and make yourself more robust to economic conditions.
Watch an hour less of TV/porn, and start thinking about how you can spend your cash better and manage our living lifestyle.
Probably work on simple stuffs like turning off the lights when not in used.
Cook in moderate amounts, don't waste food.
And leave that silly car at home when you have chance to use public transport.
Or like my ex-colleague Nat, cycle from Hougang to the City to work everyday. Yes it does sound crazy, but he gets good karma.
Savings = Earnings - Expenditures
If there is a limit to what you can do about your expenses, then start thinking about the possibility of having multiple incomes. The ocean is out there with plenty of fishes to catch, but only you can decide how big you want the fishing net to be.
Nothing is lost unless you feel it is.
Life can become better even if the circumstances dictate otherwise.
Don't be a victim of circumstances.
Be a master of your own finance and destiny!
About teh Author: Shingo T is taking more corn, for fear that all will turn to ethanol someday.
3 comments:
Singapore's inflation is certainly negligible, if you compare to that of Zimbabwe, LOL...
But I am skeptical of Singapore's economic policies. From what I know Singapore's government is trying to attract wealthy foreigners to live in the nation. Luxurious houses are being built in the island's waterfront. But foreigners don't migrate to Singapore just because houses are available. They want job and/or investment opportunities!
Yah I wonder why food inflat by 25% too!! US dollar so weak now. Sigh. Recession haven hit Sg that badly yet..
KS:
Yes, we are fortunate in a sense. Inflation hits poorer countries more.
THB:
On the bight side, going to US for vacation will be cheaper too! ^_^
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