YOURSAY 'The economy would be free from wastage and baggage. This can pave the way for real efficiencies and lead to real progress.'

Will the economy collapse if Pakatan wins GE13?

your sayCala: First, given that Umno-led BN regime has weakened all forms of social, economic, and political institutions through time, any improvement to the present system will uplift the economic development.

As an example, the reintroduction of local elections will boost local economies, and equip local people to look after their own welfare (minus rent-seeking). See Weber's (1905) on Protestant ethics.

Second, empirically speaking, a better governance protects private property rights and in the process improves economic growth (Engerman and Sokoloff, 2003).

Third, evidence from past research suggested that judicial independence is a determinant to GDP per capita (Voigt, 2008). In total, the curve can only go upward with government change for the better.

Ksn: A change of government will definitely be better, and can only be better minus all the corruption, abuses of public funds, extravagant, non-beneficial projects, leakages, contracts for the benefit of the vested interests like cronies, family members, as the savings will be tremendous.

A good, competent government minus all the vices above would boost the confidence of foreign investors. That can be only good for Malaysia.

Besides, all the public institutions will be released from being under the executive's clutches, which will give more meaning to our democracy, freedoms, etc. That, too, will be good for investor confidence.

Are the voters ready for that change for the better? My take is they are.

Onyourtoes: It is not the job of the government to save too much money. The key is to spend prudently. What is prudent spending? Surely it is not just confined to fiscal surplus alone. There are times and occasions when deficit spending is called for.

The main culprit we face is consumption/welfare driven spending - spending purely to drive growth without thinking of sustainability. Government spending must focus on building capacity - i.e on infrastructure, humanpower (skills and knowledge), productive assets, et cetera.

It is okay to incur debt if our capacity to produce bigger GDP is also increased in tandem. On efficiency, just think of this: building a new road can never be a waste unless it is due to cost overruns or poor quality. Spending money on numerous government study trips is a waste no matter how efficiently they are carried out.

On economic policies, the hidden costs of the BN government is not just confined to corruption. BN breeds monopolies like rabbits, create distortion through ill-conceived subsidies and tax incentives, and has instituted too many public enterprises and GLCs (government-linked companies) that either waste too much money or compete unfairly with the private sector.

???: I don't know if the Malaysian economy will collapse under Pakatan, but I am damn sure if we let Najib Razak/BN win the election again, the country's economy will definitely collapse. It is enough to simply look at how they are spending in the election campaign.

Chandran SIva: BN always paints a negative picture of Pakatan so that they can continue to enjoy power. Give Pakatan a chance to rule the country, only then can anyone make a clear difference between BN and Pakatan.

Changenow: The economy would be free from wastage and baggage. This can pave the way for real efficiencies and lead to real progress. But first things first - crony capitalism must be
annihilated.

MockingYou: Even I, an economics dropout, can see that the economy won't collapse if Pakatan wins.
 

DAP calls The Star 'a liar' over rejected advert

Appum: I must admit during the early days of The Star, I was a faithful subscriber to the daily. I couldn't get over the day without reading The Star, the real newspaper of the day.

But for more than 20 years now, I have stopped reading it. The chief editor is really a hypocrite and a sycophant to the powers-that-be. Such characters have no values and can still face the public outside. Maybe he is seldom out in public.

All I can ask the people to do is to totally boycott this newspaper. Subscribe to Malaysiakini for more balanced news, it costs you only RM150 per year.

In case you don't have a computer then wait for a few days more, maybe Malaysiakini news will have a tabloid version with a licence granted by the new government.

Anon1: I know a lot of Ubah supporters have ceased subscribing and buying The Star. In another month or so, they'll feel the pinch for being part of politics instead of business. Even their advertisement revenue (which is the bulk of their revenue) will fall in time to come. They asked for it, and only have themselves to blame.

Instead of concentrating on corporate policies they indulge in ‘keparat' issues. Hopefully Malaysiakini gets a newspaper licence after May 6 and reduce The Star to a tabloid of gossip and spin like The Sun in the UK.

Jiminy Qrikert: I stopped buying The Star after Bersih 1.0 when it reported that the attendance was only 4,000. What a lie that was. For the past five years, I have not bought any mainstream papers. Boycott The Star, stop paying for utter lies and rubbish.

Malaysia888: Whatever happens tomorrow, all right-thinking Malaysians should boycott The Star; the only way to have an impact is to impact them where it hurts most, which for them is their pockets.

The Star does not practise journalism, it is pure propaganda. I wouldn't use pages from it to line the birdcage, let alone read it.

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