Good Quotes —— One Man's View of the World (3)

You can have an alliance and it will hold good only when your interests coincide.———Thailand: An Underclass Stirs

There is only one rational course of action when you find yourself stuck in a dead end. Turn around and walk right out of it.———Myanmar: The Generals Change Course

Young people these days prefer to type, and when they do write, they simply do not write as beautifully.———Singapore: A Nation at a Crossroads

It is true that no country in the world pays ministers as we do. But it is also true that no other island has developed like Singapore: sparkling, clean, safe, with no corruption and low crime rates… None of this came about by coincidence. It took the construction of an ecosystem that requires highly paid ministers.———Singapore: A Nation at a Crossroads

Once women are educated and have equal job opportunities, they no longer see their primary role as bearing children or taking care of the household. They want to be able to pursue their careers fully just as men have always been able to…They have very different expectations about whether or whom they should marry because they are financially independent. There is no turning back the clock, unless we want to stop educating women, which makes no sense.———Singapore: A Nation at a Crossroads

In a globalised world, the nature of competition is such that the wages of those at the bottom get depressed and those at the top, who are mobile and much sought after, enjoy ever larger pay packets.———Singapore: A Nation at a Crossroads

[Americans] are allowed to run a deficit for a long time with very few consequences. If other countries were to do that, they run the risk of capital outflow and exchange rate collapse. The cost is low to the Americans because some of what it would have cost a regular country has been transferred to the rest of the world.———Global Economy: What Next?

If you open your capital account, it means you allow free flow of money. That makes the country vulnerable to, say, a sudden rush in or a sudden exodus that could destablise the economy.———Global Economy: What Next?

Good Quotes —— One Man's View of the World (2)

This is an age in which you will no longer have military contests between great nations because the nations know that they will destroy each other if they do that. But there will be economic and technological contests, and talent is the key ingredient in those contests.———America: Troubled But Still On Top

One reason why China will always be a less effective magnet for talent is language. Chinese is a much harder language to learn than English. The spoken language is very difficult unless you learn it from a very young age. It is monosyllabic and every word has four or five tones. And when you do not know the language, you are unable to communicate. It becomes an enormous barrier… So in soft power, the Chinese will not win.———America: Troubled But Still On Top

It is useful to remember that just as Americans tend to exaggerate their own virtues, they sometimes exaggerate their problems too.———America: Troubled But Still On Top

The British ran an empire for over 200 years, and had developed, as a result, an experienced, polished style of dominance… The US became pre-eminent after the Second World War. They had not had that long period of dominance and so they were still brash in defending their newly won position.———America: Troubled But Still On Top

Entitlements, once given, are notoriously difficult to take back.———Europe: Decline And Discord

[W]ork makes the individual and society better off, and… overly generous benefits tend to become a debilitating constraint on drive and an inadvertent suppressor of incentives.———Europe: Decline And Discord

The political leadership is part of the population. If the society is in a lethargic frame of mind, you cannot have dynamic leadership.———Japan: Strolling into Mediocrity

An ageing population will not maintain GDP per capita. It is the young that keeps the economy going…———Japan: Strolling into Mediocrity