经济学家：新加坡的致富秘诀是什么？

荆棘鸟5

Singapore has been called the 20th century's most successful development story.
新加坡被称作20世纪最成功的致富传奇。

"I don't think any other economy," says Linda Lim, an economist at the University of Michigan, "even the other Asian tigers, have that a good a statistical record of rapid growth, full employment, with very good social indicators — life expectancy, education, housing, etc. — in the first 20 years," she says.
“我想不到其他任何一个国家的经济，”美国密歇根大学的经济学家琳达·林说道，“甚至是亚洲四小龙其他成员，在头20年中，竟可以在稳定发展，完善就业，和改善社会指标上（包括寿命，教育，住房等）取得如此快速的数据增长。”

Lee Kuan Yew, the man who founded modern-day Singapore and died last week at age 91, led that economic transformation. One of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, Lee was an autocrat whose tiny island-state became one of the richest places in the world, and a role model for other governments in Asia and beyond.
正是李光耀成就了如今的新加坡，他于上周逝世，享年91岁，是他领导了新加坡的经济转型。作为20世纪最有影响力的领导人之一，李光耀让这一小块土地成为了世界上最富有的地方之一，并为亚洲和其他国家的政府树立了榜样。

Singapore has little land and no natural resources. But after its independence in 1965, the former British colony was transformed into a major manufacturing and financial center.
新加坡土地面积小，没有自然资源。但是自1965年独立以来，这块前英国殖民地开始向制造业和金融中心转型。

Conservatives see Singapore as a free-market success story. Low taxes, few capital restrictions and liberal immigration policies have made it one of the most cosmopolitan places on Earth.
保守党将新加坡视作一个自由市场的成功案例。低水平税收、资本管制和自由的移民政策，使其成为世界性的国家。

"They have very, very free trade, very low tariffs [and] very few non-tariff barriers," says Josh Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations.
“他们有着非常非常自由的贸易，关税很低，而且基本没什么关税壁垒，” 外交关系委员会的乔什·科兰滋克说道。

"Some of the biggest sectors domestically — shipbuilding, electronics, banking, and now they're very involved in private banking — got their start because Lee Kuan Yew and the government specially directed state funds into those areas," Kurlantzick says.
“一些大型产业均为国有——制船业、电子、银行，而如今他们也渗入了私人银行——这么做是因为李光耀政府的特别规划，并引导国家资金进入这些领域” 科兰滋克说道。

The government also provided social services like housing and health care, in a way liberal economists applauded.
政府还提供社会福利，比如住房和社保，在某种程度上令自由主义经济学家夸夸不绝。

Singapore today is a mature economy that, like Japan, has seen its growth slow. Kurlantzick says it struggles with a problem familiar to the West.
如今的新加坡是一个成熟的经济体系，如同日本，其经济增长已经减缓。科兰滋克称，它和其他西方国家一样陷入同样的困局。

"People live well, but the per capita GDP conceals a high level of inequality, so that is definitely a major issue in Singapore today and one of the things that the current prime minister has focused on," he says.
“人民安居乐业，但是人均GDP隐藏了高度不平等的问题，所以这必然是当今新加坡的主要问题，而且也是现任新加坡总理面对的问题之一。”他说。

But Singapore remains a big financial center with a high standard of living, and Lee Kuan Yew is remembered as the man who made its prosperity possible.
但新加坡依然为生活质感极高的大型金融中心，而李光耀将被铭记——他是这一繁荣的最大功臣。