Wise words from a man who currently presides over the most recent spectacular economic success story in the last 30 years. A tiny island nation with few natural resources, they went from abject poverty and “developing nation” status in the 1950′s and today, GDP per capital rivals any western power. Singapore has the most liberal immigration laws in the world, especially for educated foreigners, and maintains a very small government to ensure high levels of economic freedoms. When I used to travel there on business in the 1990′s, though, the locals called it the “Fine City” because all sorts of personal freedoms incurred government fines. In December of 2006, when I took my family to visit Singapore, we saw t-shirts like this, and noticed that they had repealed their prior draconian anti-chewing gum laws. These early signs of reform, and this week’s SM comments suggest that there is a newfound serious recognition that entrepreneurial and creative human capital simply won’t work where there’s little culture and fun. They need real options of the creative variety to allow their minds to think creatively of new ways to create value. Do you think Singapore can create another Silicon Valley + San Francisco?
Technorati Tags: Human Capital, Singapore, Real Options, Work Environment, Freedom, Liberty
