Publication Type

News Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

2-2026

Abstract

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Economics (Education) Ho Kong Weng said that the Ministry of Finance’s Occasional Paper provides food for thought on the way forward on social mobility, growth and redistribution. Assoc Prof Ho stated that these macro statistics suggest Singapore’s socioeconomic compact has performed well, and suggests that sustaining inclusive growth is a multifaceted effort that cannot be boiled down to one single metric, whether income, wealth, inequality or mobility. He noted that pursuing ever-lower Gini coefficients through heavy regulation risks deadweight losses without guaranteeing better mobility outcomes. He added that Singapore’s approach of tempering market-driven inequality while investing heavily in housing, education, healthcare and skills has delivered strong mobility outcomes so far.

Keywords

Social mobility, Singapore, Ministry of Finance, inclusive growth, inequality, wealth inequality, social preference, skill-biased technological progress, public investment, human capital, health capital, public housing, broad middle-income group, National Youth Surveys, fiscal prudence.

Discipline

Asian Studies | Economics | Public Policy

Research Areas

Macroeconomics

Areas of Excellence

Growth in Asia

Publication

Straits Times

First Page

1

Last Page

1

ISSN

1692-9344

Publisher

Singapore Press holdings

Additional URL

https://str.sg/9dWZ

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