jelas.info

I’m too far away on too small a computer to write too much, but looks pretty disappointing so far.

I think there was a very strong undercurrent of ‘business as usual’ – ie, the government will spend tons of money, to keep the wheels of corrution, cronyism and cannabalisation.

Najib ‘pawns’ Idris, sending him to [...]

I wanted to:

a) Highlight some brilliant points made by Derek Fernandez recently
b) Reproduce an article I wrote some time back on TMI

My Malay article basically argues that the more gambling there is (and I think there’s no doubt there will be more than before), the more financial losses the rakyat will bear on aggregate, especially [...]

I had some interesting conversations on Twitter that inspired the following article on subsidies cuts. Thanks to everyone who commented on TMI!

(I’ve also included some facts and figures someone sent me on specifics of the proposed cuts below)

I wanted to make a quick mention of another misleading comment by Idris Jala:

“Imagine, even Somalis are paying [...]

MK:

Malaysia risks becoming the next Greece unless voters swallow subsidy cuts that will see the price of petrol, food, electricity and other staples rise, a government minister warned today.

Idris Jala, a minister in the prime minister’s department who heads the body advising the government, said that Malaysia’s debt would rise to 100 percent [...]

TMI:

The recent sale of 90 million Plus Expressway shares by Malaysia’s state pension fund Khazanah Nasional could signal moves by the government to accelerate the reduction of its big holdings in government linked companies (GLCs), analysts say.

Coincidental or not, Khazanah’s sale of about 90 million Plus shares in the last week of November — around [...]

Aargh, so busy these days…

Let’s talk some GST.

I’m no economist, but isn’t one of the reasons a GST is a bad idea the fact that it burdens everyone without regard to their economic standing?

Thus, the poor would have to pay the same percentage GST as rich people.

I suppose this is like the issue of petrol [...]

Our 2nd Finance Minister seeks to reassure us about the injection of RM 7 5 billion into ValueCap.

I sought the wisdom of my colleagues in trying to understand the motives for this, and what areas of this move may raise suspicions. I learnt quite a bit.

I think the crux of the matter is that huge [...]

Almost every serious “intellectual” or “economist” I know bemoans fuel subsidies – the gist being it simply doesn’t make economic sense to subsidise fuel.

Having heard the arguments, I can lend some sympathy to this view; efficiency, after all, has always been something I’ve found sexy.

I did a brief survey of what’s been written while [...]

Just felt like combating the spin a bit. Can’t help but feel that one primary reason for the breakdown in talks (see Malaysiakini) was that Malaysia just isn’t as good a place to do business as it once was.

Corruption, an undependable judiciary, questionable preferential policies, ridiculously inflated vendor prices.. Who can blame them.

And what’s [...]