Five days ago, I arrived with my family in Singapore, after a very long flight (more than 24 hours, door to door). We're now acclimated, to the extent of having a temporary subscription to the Singapore version of netflix.com, and have been wandering the very humid city seeing the sights. I think I want to go into the import business, so that U.S. people can sample dragonfruit, a very strange-looking and aptly named import from Vietnam that, once cut open, tastes something like a crisper, tarter version of a kiwi.
Amazing construction boom in Singapore - it's radically transformed since my one other visit here, back in 1990. Without intending any sort of endorsement of anything, it's amazing, as a U.S. citizen, to be in a place that actually appears to be well-governed. Not exactly what I am used to these days.
Yesterday I taught my first session of an intensive 26-hours-over-8-class-days plunge through Tax Policy, and felt pretty good about it - excellent students, from all over the world. I don't know if it's something I said, probably not, but when I was explaining welfarism I got a question to the effect of: Why would anyone believe that anything other than people's subjective wellbeing is important? Hard for me to answer as that's the way I look at it as well.
Singapore is a nice place, but it isn't a democracy. That's easy to forget until one gets a hankering for some gum or has a bug fly in one's mouth.
ReplyDeleteJust randomly came across this when I was looking for a netflix in Singapore...We just moved as well around June 20th from New York. Still settling in - hasnt been as smooth as it seems to have been for you. Interestingly my wife teaches accounting as well!
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