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Christopher Neo Ting Wei, NSP candidate for Jurong GRC in the 2011 general elections, passed away on 14 August 2012 at the age of 49.  Condolences have been expressed by various politicians from opposition parties.  I was pleasantly surprised to read DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam's Facebook update a short while ago. Paid last respects to Christopher Neo this morning, before the last rites. He left us early, at 49. He led the NSP team in Jurong GRC in GE2011, and fought admirably. I regarded him well - he had an unassuming style, and was concerned for poorer citizens. His wife Amy told me about the four wonderful kids he had left her with. They always helped each other. The eldest, do...ing her O-levels soon, helped the second girl; the second helped the third girl; the third played with the little boy aged 4. The girls were doing well in school. His parents were elderly but sturdy. They were Chinese-educated, but spoke with me in English. Christopher left many siblings. His elder...

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam: “People do want to know, there is curiosity, it is a matter of public interest. That is not sufficient reason to disclose information. It is not sufficient that there be curiosity and interest that you want to disclose information.” One of the functions of Parliament is to call Ministers to account. With regard to individual Ministers the expectation is that PArliament is able to get information from them on matters that affect the public. As a representation of Ministerial accountability, Parliament is empowered under Standing Order No.19 to put questions to Ministers pertaining to 'affairs within their official functions'. Any question about Temasek put to Mr Tharman would be within the ambit of his official functions as a Finance Minister. By Convention he is obliged to answer those questions unless the question is itself within the ambit of excluded matters listed out at Standing ORder No.21. (The Parliamentary Standing Orders ...

What was Mr Tharman talking about? My layman brain is throbbing with a big, fat headache. Are there any economists out there that can explain? Our Finance Minister says that wage increases will fuel a second round of inflation. I have been trying to work out the dynamics in my mind as rationally as I can. I have tried speaking to people to see if anyone can shed light on the relationship between wages and inflation. Looks like it can be argued both ways (for and against the Minister’s proposition). After doing a bit of google-searching, I have discovered this excellent policy discussion paper: “Does Wage Inflation Cause Price Inflation?” by Gregory D. Hess and Mark E. Schweltzer (Policy Discussion Paper, Number 10, April 2000), Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Gregory D. Hess is the Danforth-Lewis Professor of Economics at Oberlin College and an academic consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Mark E. Schweitzer is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Clevela...