Ron, I hope Mike obtains feedback from his Singapore Business Times
article. Are you still uneasy with any linking of gold to a nation's paper
currency, or might this be a different situation where strength and
stability are obtained for a region of countries at the lessor pay of
those problems you associate with a gold backing of money ?
StockTalk: Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent?
From: m.philli
Saturday, Sep 11 1999 12:55PM ET
Morning fellas,
Russett, thanks for the pm explanation to my questions. You guys are in
luck, I got a letter published in the Singapore Business Times.
Hopefully, it will generate enough communication to keep me busy for a
while, giving you threadsters a rest. I'm more interested in the Asean
viewpoint on Gold anyway. That's where gold's future (if any)lay........
S'pore as 'Switzerland of Asia' - published on 11 Sep 1999
I VISITED your country about five years ago on my way to the
Philippines. I was amazed at the cleanliness, beauty and order of the
city.
It is amazing to me how the "hub" of South-east Asia can display such
characteristics, while the varying "spokes" at various times seem to
erupt into such chaos.
I have a great deal of respect for some of your law-and-order policies
that sometimes have drawn such clamour from countries such as mine and
the larger one to my south.
Denigrating your laws on vandalism, drugs, etc seems unreasonable at a
time when in our own country, our children are being gunned down in
their own schools. One hopes you do not become too "westernised" in all
things. I have some questions which I hope some of your readers may help
me with in trying to understand Asean economics and its future.
With Singapore being the shipping and transportation hub, and well on
its way to being the banking, financial, technology centre of South-east
Asia, I wonder if you ever see yourself as the "Switzerland of Asia" in
this sense -- could you ever see Singapore "backing" your dollar to
gold?
I have been trying to determine how many Singapore dollars are in
circulation to find out how much gold would be required to achieve this
at the present time.
I see a vision of Singapore with a gold-backed currency becoming the
currency of inter-Asian trade. This, it seems, would free Asean of any
"bondage" to American policies and politics.
If this was ever going to happen, now is certainly the time, with the
price of gold at a long-term low.
With the cooperation of the other nations which could sell some of their
US reserves for gold, then purchase Singapore dollars with the gold, you
would be taking destiny into your own hands.
Singapore could prosper from its position of being "the Asean bank", the
other countries could prosper knowing that their trade currency is
stable and would remain so, independent of "outside" interference.
Singapore, acting as bank and "accountant", would give Asean the desired
ability to know exactly how, where and from whom, money flows into and
out of the region.
This would allow the appropriate actions to be taken in a timely manner,
helping the prevention of a situation like the one the area is
recovering from now.
I wonder if any of your readers feel some benefit in backing the
Singapore dollar to gold and following this destiny for your country and
your neighbours. I can be reached at miphilli@vip.net.
I wish you all a happy, prosperous future.
Michael Phillips
Canada
via Internet
StockTalk: Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent?
From: m.philli
Saturday, Sep 11 1999 9:56PM ET
Thanks,
I know everyone would likely say,"why do that, their currency would be
too strong and exports wouldn't be possible".
But from what I see, Singapore has a very strong government. The
residents are acceptable to that type of government.
Everyone has a policy of beggaring their currency in exchange for export
growth, which seems to be nothing more than a large scale "town gas pump
war",where they all lose until the strongest ends up taking over the
weakest.
In Singapore's case, why couldn't they institute a form of wage, price
controls geared to any increase in currency strength.
Keep their money in their hemisphere, Where the money lies, so goes
growth.-MIKE |
