From: othman@ntrc25.ntrc.ntu.ac.sg (othman (EEE/Div 4))
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: Developed? Must have unemployment benefits!
Date: 7 Jan 93 05:06:23 GMT
Organization: Nanyang Technological University - Singapore
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]


this is one of my controversial ideas again which I have studied for some time
based on the facts that

ALL DEVELOPED NATIONS HAVE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.
ALL UNDEVELOPED NATIONS HAVE NO UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.

The conventional explaination is that only developed nations can afford 
unemployment benefits but couldn't there be the more straight forward
explaination?

I cannot find any supporting evidence until the german unification?

The best argument to most people(not me) is that it is better to have no
unemployment benefits so that more people will be willing to work even at reduced
wages. Remember the law of supply and demand. 
--
Othman bin Ahmad, School of EEE,
However it strikes me as though the east germans follow this argument. they almost
have full employment but of course at much lower wages.

When the west germans took over, they would rather pay unemployment benefits
rather than employ them at lower wages just to provide full employment.

Carl Zeiss Jena(?), the manufacturer of Practica cameras, although highly
skilled, have its work force reduced by 80%. The same thing happen to Tungsram.
Refer to Fortune.

In the Singapore case, the support for government becomes less when Singapore
become more developed because of fear of rising cost of living but this is the
price of development. As the government had tried to explain that as the workers
wages increase, the cost of labour will increase resulting in increases in
hawker food stall prices, etc. 
	So I boldly predict that, Singapore will not achieve its parity with
Switzerland if it does not have equivalent unemployment benefits. It already has
quite close in the form of the CPF, which can be withdrawn for various needs,
such as hospitals but not for unemployment.

I've given you the facts but what is the real explanation?
In my previous discussion, readers are encouraged to discuss the value and
reason for productivity. Refer to my previous postings which simply comment on
articles in Fortune.


Developed status is the per capita income. Other methods is too subjective as
I'd discussed a long time ago.

Per capita income depends on productivity in value not in quantity.

Productivity can be achieved only throught machines/tools. How much can a man
do.

machines/tools are provided by employers so it the wages are low it may be
cheaper to employ more workers at low wages resulting in drop in productivity
per capita.

with unemployment benefits, the minimum wage will have a bottom line of the
amount of the unemployment benefits. No worker will work for less than that,
and the employer must provide business which can pay for more than that or else
get out of that business and look for better yeilding business.

Just setting minimum wage will not work because of enforcement problems.
Anyway the minimum wage seem to come together with unemployment benefits.
	Without unemployment benefits, unemployment will not be tolerated and
will cause instant revolution and political instability, and starvation.

My questions are what will happen if more nations know about this trick towards
development? There will not be any nations that can be exploited/ i.e. work for
low wages, e.g. India, china, Indonesia to produce food and raw materials.
	I'm not sure of the answer but I bet that this will not make any
difference due to the very important social science theory of "Cooperation for
a gain-gain situation".
	Furthermore if it works locally in USA and Europe, why shouldn't it
work globally? Locally here means internal economies. Of course there is the
gearing effect of export oriented economy but my belief is that it has less
effect than the real productivity of the people even in satisfying internal
needs.
	Only if the internal productivity is stagnat as a result of lack of
exposure with other techniques developed by the rest of the world, will make
a nation under developed just like China and Russia and India, which do not
adopt the best production techniques but depend on locally developed techniques
which are becoming obsolete.

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2263.
Internet Email: eoahmad@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg
Bitnet Email: eoahmad@ntuvax.bitnet
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean