“It’s the economy, stupid?”: Inflation, incomes, inequality, and Singapore’s general elections (with Dr. Linda Lim)

socialservice.sg presents: "Before the Ballot"

How do the economy and economic conditions influence electoral outcomes, both broadly and in Singapore? What can we understand from Singapore's ranking as one of the world's most expensive cities as well as the country's Consumer Price Index, or the CPI? And if the fundamental root cause of Singapore’s low wages can be attributed to widespread cheap sourcing and the influx of foreign workers from very low-wage neighbouring countries, how do we address that problem?

To answer these questions and more, we host Dr. Linda Lim, Professor Emerita of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan. We previously hosted Dr. Lim on this podcast in 2020, in an episode focused on the minimum wage, Singapore’s Progressive Wage Model, and low-wage labour in the country.

Here are the other links referenced in the episode:

• Linda Lim: A scholar’s journey, in and out of Singapore (Knowledge Praxis, academia.sg).
• WhatsEnough.sg (the Minimum Income Standard study); We also spoke to Drs. Ng Kok Hoe and Teo You Yenn on this podcast, during which they explained a “basic standard of living”, detailed the study methodology, and addressed five common responses and rebuttals to the study (socialservice.sg).
• MyBasket.sg, an inflation calculator for those in Singapore.

The feature photos are by Ng Shi Wen (episode) and Kelli McClintock on Unsplash (cover).