Tharman: Curbing Loans

I don't know if we have done enough to curb runaway loan growth. Doesn't look like stress testing is in fashion here. I think it is natural for MAS to do this in-house but the findings are not shared with us. Who knows what margin of safety they work with? My other private investment blog discuss this is greater detail.

I keep thinking about Cyprus. What they did before the crisis had looked safer and perhaps smart given the options available for a small economy in the Mediterranean. But the unthinkable happened and it hit them hard.

The guy in charge of Finance, sometimes he is more critical than the PM. Nobody from the opposite side as far as I can see is up to the task.

From time to time very smart people do some of the stupidest things. We have no solution to this vulnerability. Lots of people with money here have no need to see far ahead. That's why confidence in this place is still high. However even more people with no money but their lives stuck here must ask themselves what they must do to secure their long term future. It's a different world. You cannot simply just trust people. You have to understand what you are trusting. How we educate our young is most critical.