The First

Singapore Economic Roundtable

edited by Manu Bhaskaran, Vikram Khanna and Tan Khee Giap

THE SINGAPORE ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE is a forum of leading economists, policy makers and business leaders who gather twice a year to discuss important issues that impact on Singapore’s position in the global economy. The Economic Roundtable is a joint effort of the Institute of Policy Studies and the Business Times. It raises questions on the role that government organisations in Singapore can play, and the ways in which we should reposition ourselves to meet the new challenges.

The First Singapore Economic Roundtable includes:

•  Recent macroeconomic developments in Singapore, by Tu Suh Ping, Senior Economist, Monetary Authority of Singapore

• The macroeconomic policy mix in Singapore: an assessment, by Simon Flint, Principal & Senior Strategist, Bank of America (Singapore)

• Assessing Singapore’s competitiveness, by Manu Bhaskaran, Partner & Member of the Board, Centennial Group Inc

The First Singapore Economic Roundtable highlights topics of vital interest to policy makers, including concepts of monetary and exchange rate policies. It reveals

• a deep concern that structural issues have not been effectively tackled;

• a desire to review some basic assumptions and doctrines underlying policy; and

• a warning that policies which make individual sense can cumulatively produce unintended, harmful consequences.

In the openminded spirit of the Roundtable, challenging questions are asked, including the intriguing ‘Are basic economic issues not adequately studied, thus affecting policy making?’ It is hoped that this fi rst Roundtable report will be a stimulus to positive action by concerned policy makers in Singapore.

Contents:

Manu Bhaskaran, Khanna, Vikram and Tan, Khee Giap, eds. 2004. The First Singapore Economic Roundtable. Singapore: SNP Reference.

(84 pages, ISBN 981 248 073 0)