Kiasunomics – Season 3
In this third season of the Kiasunomics podcast, Professor Sumit returns with faculty guest speakers, including NUS Business School Dean, Professor Andrew Rose. Drawing from reflections and observations of Singaporeans, they discuss and bring new perspectives to trending topics, ranging from retirement and taxation to public housing, illicit financial flows and even university exam grading.
In this episode, Professor Sumit Agarwal delves into the topic of aging in Singapore, and the use of its Central Provident Fund. From research done by finance Professor Allaudeen Hameed on the way funds are used by Singaporeans who reach 55 years of age and are eligible to withdraw a proportion of their retirement savings, Sumit shares interesting insights on how the money is spent, or not spent.
In this episode, Professor Sumit and finance Professor Ruan Tianyue analyse the Silver Support Scheme – one of Singapore’s policy measures, instituted in 2015, to provide better support to retired individuals in an increasingly aged society.
In this episode, Professor Sumit Agarwal chats to Professor Fan Yi about her research on inter-generational housing wealth mobility, and whether factors like policy and housing types (i.e. public or private) have a bearing on how the next generation fares, property wise.
Regardless of where, inflation has corrosive implications on people’s lives. In this episode, Professor Sumit chats to NTU’s Assistant Professor Chua Yeow Hwee about the “upgrading channel”, which tests if an individual’s inflation expectations are linked to the way they spend, i.e. the quality of products they buy. Professor Yeow Hwee shares his findings from an interesting experiment based on the prices of Wall’s and Haagan Daz ice cream brands. He uses data from Nielsen’s Home Scan panel to corroborate the evidence that he found in his own survey data to tease out the quality versus price effect that could be on inflation itself.
The world is seeing a widening income gap, where the rich enjoy more comfortable lives and flexibility. Income tax policies are designed to narrow this gap, but do these measures harm higher income earners more than they help lower income earners? In this episode, Professor Sumit discusses data-backed consumption patterns with Assistant Professor Zheng Huanhuan to assess the impact of Singapore income tax policies.
It is a known, evidence-based fact that the lifestyle choices of our peers have a strong bearing on our own. Does this hold true when it comes to bankruptcy? In this episode, Professor Sumit looks at the spending behaviours of people living in close proximity to individuals who have been declared bankrupts. Interestingly, he observed a reduction in the consumption of the neighbours of a bankrupt by 3%!
How do Singaporeans respond to “free money” aka tax rebates, in the main? Using bank account transaction data from a leading local bank during the time of a special government budget surplus payout, Professor Sumit identifies differences in the way different income groups respond, and questions if payouts should be available to everyone in order to effectively boost economic growth.
Do discounts and good bargains really save us money, or do they instead trigger unnecessary purchases? By looking at the spending of people in Singapore, Professor Sumit Agarwal assesses if the favourable exchange rate drives Singaporeans up the causeway to shop there, particularly those who live closer to Johor Bahru.
As Housing Development Board (HDB) flats get on in their years, their cash value potentially drops more quickly. Does this create a negative downward spiral, and why?
In this episode, Professor Sumit chats to fellow colleague Professor Sing Tien Foo from NUS’ Department of Real Estate about this issue to better understand the mechanics behind the economics of this phenomenon.
In the spirit of fostering harmony and better social integration, Singapore’s Housing Development Board has intentionally implemented an ethnic household mix across all blocks and estates.
In this episode, Professor Sumit chats once again to Professor Sing Tien Foo about how this policy has inadvertently influenced public housing prices, and the reasons why. Analysing home sale transaction data, they also identify the ethnic buy-seller pairings that command a premium, and the pairings that command a discount!
The common yet unromantic Singaporean marriage proposal: Do you want to BTO with me?
In this episode, Professor Sumit Agarwal continues to delve with Professor Fan Yi into the public housing policy schemes in Singapore, specifically for young couples planning for marriage, and for singles above 35 years.
Distinction, merit and pass. Now just three ways to pass a course for postgraduate students at NUS Business School. In this episode, Professor Sumit Agarwal engages Dean of NUS Business School, Professor Andrew Rose in this exclusive dialogue, to understand the rationale behind his bold changes to the School’s postgraduate grading system, to adopt a coarser scale, reducing the importance ascribed to academic grades in favour of co-curricular achievements.