Some thoughts on political economic policy

YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir,

"36. Malaysia must give up the idea of competing on the basis of low cost labour. Against China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia we just cannot win. We must provide other elements attractive to investors."

Comment by Onlooker: To give up competing on the basis of cheap labour, the government must be willing to abandone the affirmative action policy and turn to meritocracy policy in hiring the talented people in the administration of the Government Offices and the amanagement of the Government Linked Corporations. Otherwise, the best talents can always find a better pay job in neighbouring countries and in the private sector. The end-result will be an inefficient government bureaucracy being operated by some half-past-six government chief officers.

"37. Confidence in the consistency of Government policies and political stability would be among the factors attractive to business. There can be a lot of other things that can be provided to offset the rise in wages. After all we must remember that many developed countries have very high wages. Even if we double the salaries and wages paid in Malaysia we would still be far lower than wages in developed countries."

Comment by Onlooker: Tun Dr. Mahathir has been viewed by many analysts as the most critical factor which attempts to destabilize or has destabilized the political stability of contemporary Malaysia. The sincerity of Tun in relation to the above sentences is a bit questionable. No wonder some bloggers like to name-call Tun as a "hypocrite."

"38. We had planned to go hi-tech in order to increase income. But there is not much moving in the implementation of this policy. Instead we want to be an agricultural country again. Planting food crops on the side tables of roads may increase food production but it will not help fight inflation on the scale needed for overcoming the turmoil in the world."

Comment by Onlooker: Tun Dr. Mahathir had about 22 years' chances to go hi-tech in Proton Automobile Engines. However, why were there many Proton Cars which still had to be powered by Mitsubishi Engines for running on the road? "Hi-Tech Nation" is indeed a whimsy easier to dream of than to put into practical implementation. To increase food production for purpose of better national food security is a political consideration rather than an economic consideration. Even though the policy of the late Tun Abdul Razak, the so-called "Rancangan Buku Hijau", was deemed as a temporary measure for curbing the imported inflation during mid 1970s, it did manage to help some poor farmers to obtain cultivable lands from the government in order to achieve a better self-sufficiency in food production for the whole nation and meanwhile helped to eradicate some poverty on a subsistence level.

Many economists are in the opinion that the US Economy will not collapse no matter what has to happen to the currency value of the US Dollars. The United States is basically a giant agricultural country and Americans have already achieved self-sufficiency in food production for a few hundred years. Even though the US economy has to go down to the drain like Tun predicts, Americans will still be able to survive by relying on the last resort, that is to adopt the Closed Door Policy and Protectionism in International Trade. However, Protectionism is usually not the best choice for a capitalist country like the US which champions the ideology of Laissez-Faire, therefore there are still rooms for the most brilliant economists to attempt to develop a viable Political Economic Theory that will eventually help to resolve the current economic issues such as fuel shortage, food shortage, land shortage and confidence crisis on international currency, based on the natural human response of instant spontaneity.