Singapore
model
Letters: New York Times
January 26, 1998
RELATED: Singapore
finances
William Safire (column, Jan. 19) attributes
the economic problems in Asia to the "Singapore model." How does
he explain the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s, the collapse of
savings and loans in the United States, the bubble economy in Japan or
even the Great Crash of 1929? Manias, panics and crashes are an intrinsic
part of capitalism.
Singapore has so far been spared the serious problems that have afflicted the region. It has healthy foreign reserves and runs a balanced budget. Its banks are sound, the Singapore dollar is stable against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, and confidence has been maintained.
Mr Safire advises Russia and China not to follow the "Singapore model." These countries will find their own way forward. They are unlikely to be influenced by what Singapore does, or Mr. Safire writes.
CHAN HENG CHEE
Ambassador of Singapore
Washington, Jan. 21,1998
Published in the New York Times. January 26, 1997