Singapore Miracle Dimming as Income Gap Widens Squeeze by Rich

(Bloomberg) Economic miracles sometimes need course corrections, even in Singapore, which last year was home to more U.S. dollar-millionaire households per capita than any other country, according to Boston Consulting Group Inc.

From 1959 onward, under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew and his successors, Singapore transformed itself into a rich hub for a range of industries, from financial services to transportation, to pharmaceuticals, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in the September issue. From 1960 to 2010, the city- state’s GDP increased 41-fold, to 285 billion Singapore dollars, as it became the world’s second-busiest container port and fourth-largest financial center. Three of the world’s six strongest banks are based in Singapore, according to a June Bloomberg Markets ranking.

As non-Singaporean workers and companies have poured into what the World Bank says is the easiest place on earth to do business, some Singaporeans have been left behind. The income gap between richest and poorest has widened in recent years, according to the government statistics department.

Non-Singaporeans now make up more than one-third of the island’s population of 5 million. The influx of wealthy expatriates has inflated demand for housing, pushing up prices, while the opposition Workers’ Party argues that large numbers of immigrant laborers have depressed local wages. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/singapore-miracle-dimming-as-income-gap-widens-squeeze-by-rich.html