ALL THINGS BIG AND SMALL 2.0

Recently, Singapore citizens who were born before before 31 Dec 1949 were accorded the status of Pioneer Generation by the Singapore government. This group of over-65 baby boomers received several perks and privileges such as on healthcare and transportation costs. According to the government, Singapore owes its success to their stoic, conservative and hardworking nature, their endurance of hardship, their determination to ensure that their children receive a good education and are inculcated with the right values. But now that they are old, we would think that they would be contented to retire and have a good rest. However: Yesterday, in the elevator, I met the lady who sells fresh chicken meat in the market. I asked her why every time I pass by, her stall is closed. She said she spent three weeks in the UK, with her son who has a Masters in Engineering from Imperial College on a government scholarship and is now working for a multinational corporation in London .She still wi sh...

*Articles on Economics and Finance are especially perishable. Change is continuous and fast and what you say one day may be irrelevant the next. Putting my thoughts down on this 29th day of September 2006, I will come back and read it one year from now and see how relevant it will be then. As the first baby boomer turns 60 this year, and 78 million more in America born between 1946 and 1964 do so in the next 25 years, will this have an earth-shaking effect on the U.S. economy? As the baby boomers sell their stock market holdings or downgrade to smaller homes to free up cash, investors all the over the world shudder at the possible consequences on the stock market and the real estate market. There is no consensus on how serious this impact will be. Professor Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School of Business and author of the best seller " The Future for Investors" certainly thinks that we will all suffer a lowering in our standard of living, but street-smart reformed junk bond k...