Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Labour churning has social and economic cost

Here is an excellent article in Yawning Bread.

Most Singaporeans will not have much idea of the economics of the foreign worker recruiting system, since our daily lives are far removed from this issue. What I can’t figure out is whether civil servants at the Ministry of Manpower know much about it. If they don’t, the question would be: But isn’t it part of your job to know? If they do, then: How have you managed to ignore the injustices, and social and economic consequences of such a dysfunctional system for so long?



Read more.

Fallacies about Singapore Welfare System

At risk of simplification, this static thinking about our social welfare can be roughly summed up in a few statements: Singapore is not a welfare state and should never be, because the Western welfare state is doomed to fail and social welfare is fundamentally un-Asian. As a small country with no natural resources, we have no choice but to define our own style of social welfare, which by and large has worked over the years. So why fix it if it ain’t broke?  
Underlying these statements are four powerful ideas about social welfare and Singapore society. In the spirit of critical reflection, let us now examine the truth in each of them. 
[Ng Kok Hoe].


Read his article here.



Financial system gets less stable

When you go out to buy your next television set, it is likely that you end up with something better than your existing TV sold for the same price. Like many things around us, man made systems tend to improve over time - if you take Boeing's newest aircraft, The Dreamliner, you will expect that to be build with more safety features than the old Boeing 747.


There is however one exception, our financial system - it seems to get less stable with each passing year and generates crisis, turmoil and recessions much more often that in the past yet we seem to accept this all encompassing system because most of us are born into or do not really understand what goes on in the banking system. Here is an interesting video that explains quite clear how money is created, how it drives the economy and why we are seeing so many crisis and so much in stability in the current system [Lucky Tan].


Read this article.

Look back at the Pinnacle Notes

Here is an interesting article written nearly two years ago, about the Pinnacle Notes Series 3. Here is another explanation.

Hotel Deals Ireland

Amplify’d from luxuryhotelsireland.org

Do not merely accept the price that is listed online. Hotels are frequently willing to negotiate their rates, rather than letting a room remain empty. Speak directly to the hotel and inquire about a room that may have a lower rate. You should also investigate if the inn has any promotions. Many hotels provide discount rates to military persons, seniors or frequent travelers.


hotel-deals-ireland1 Check out Dublin city centre hotels and luxury hotels Ireland also.


Mid Week Breaks


If you have the luxury of being able to select your travel dates, make them work for you. Think about traveling during the off-season. Many quality hotels drop their standard rate by up to fifty percent in the off-season. You should consider planning mid-week breaks rather than weekend getaways.  Weekend rates, as a rule, tend to be higher than those during the week.

Read more at luxuryhotelsireland.org
 

Train4TradeSkills News: Will Ed Balls 5 point plan save the ...

Shadow Chancellor tries to stop the economy from being Balls-ed up and aims to create thousands of construction jobs.

The Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has unveiled the Labour Party?s five-point plan to revitalise the economy.

Mr Balls was speaking at the Labour Party?s conference and has proposed plans to boost the economy by cutting VAT and offering tax breaks ? all to move things forward, start new projects and create new jobs.

Balls? 5-point plan for the economy includes:

? Repeating the bank bonus tax ? and using ?the money to build 25,000 affordable homes and guarantee a job for 100,000 young people?

? Bringing forward long-term investment projects, such as schools, roads and transport, to create jobs

? Reversing January?s ?damaging? VAT rise now for a temporary period

? Immediate one-year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance

? One-year national insurance tax break ?for every small firm which takes on extra workers, using the money left over from the government?s failed national insurance rebate for new businesses?

Of course these are Labour?s suggestions and the government don?t have to make these changes, but Mr Balls have said they would back the proposals if the coalition agreed to them.

Out of Balls? proposals, the one year VAT cut to 5% on home improvements would help the construction industry massively. Homeowners would get more repairs done on their homes and this would create new jobs for contractors. If they wanted to do the work themselves, the DIY industry would thrive.

Bringing forward stalled projects would also give the construction industry a much-needed boost. Deputy PM recently said that he wants to kick-start 40 new infrastructure projects and Balls? plans seem to be echoing that. If this does happen, it would provide a welcome boost for the industry and create new jobs.

What do you think about this ? will Balls? plans work? Let us know what you think and comment below or on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://train4tradeskills.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/train4tradeskills-news-will-ed-balls-5-point-plan-save-the-construction-industry/

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How to Buy Cheap Used Car

How can you buy cheap used car? Cheap used cars are a hit today. Lots and lots of people are buying cheap used cars which evidently come for a fraction of the price of first hand cars. Why spend so much when you can have good cars for little? But the main problem is from where to buy cheap used cars? There are probably a hundred places from where you can buy cheap used cars but all those places are not known to the first time buyer.





Hence in this article, we are going to discuss some of the places from where you can buy cheap used cars. A very good way of buying cheap used cars is to search for owners who want to sell their cars. This is something you can find in local newspapers. When you find any such news, you should first contact the owner and ask for the type and cost of the car he is selling. But only one owner will not be enough. You should also search in sites like cars.com and gov auctions. In sites like these you can get a lot of information on owners who want to see their cars.


We Buy Any Car


Often times, you can get these cars for a cheap price because owners know that they won't be able to sell their cars for the same price as the dealers. Knowing the inside techniques can also help you a lot in getting the best dealer. When you know where and how to find the best deal for a car, you get the best value for money. Therefore if you know someone from the industry who will be able to help you with the inside details of the car industry, then get help from them.



How to Buy Cheap Used Car

Retirees should keep the mortgage

In a low interest rate environment, it is better to keep the mortgage and cash in the bank, or keep invested.
See this article.