经济学人下载:向东方学习做官吧！

Come in, the water’s lovely来吧来吧，水滨佳城
Rather than seeing foreign investment as a way to steal technology or to build up strategic industries, as China often does, Singapore has followed an open-door policy, building an environment where businesses want to be. The central message has remained much the same for decades: come to us and you will get excellent infrastructure, a well-educated workforce, open trade routes, the rule of law and low taxes.

新加坡并没有如中国那样把外国投资作为窃取技术或者发展战略性产业的途径，而是采取门户开放政策，创造一个让贸易自由发展的环境。其中心思想在几十年来一直是：来新加坡吧，在这儿你会得到最棒的基础设施，受过优良教育的劳动力，开放的贸易路线，法治保障以及低税收政策。

In other words, Singapore’s competitive advantage has been good, cheap government. It has worked hard to keep its state small; even education consumes only 3.3% of GDP. But the real savings come from keeping down social transfers and especially from not indulging the middle class. The older Mr Lee thinks the West’s mistake has been to set up “all you can eat” welfare states: because everything at the buffet is free, it is consumed voraciously.

换句话说，新加坡的竞争优势就是优秀、成本低的政府管理。它十分努力控制国家的小；甚至教育也只占了其国内生产总值的3.3%。但是真正的节余来自减少社会转移，特别是不娇惯了中产阶级。老李认为西方的错误就是建立起了“让你吃到饱”的福利国家：因为自助餐上的东西都是免费的，那么人们吃起来也是贪婪的。

Singapore’s approach, by contrast, is for the government to provide people with assets that allow them to look after themselves. Good education for all is one big part of it. The other mainstay is the Central Provident Fund. A fifth of everybody’s salary goes into their account at the CPF, with the employer contributing another 15.5%. That provides Singaporeans with the capital to pay for their own housing, pensions and health care and their children’s tertiary education.

与之相比，新加坡的方式则是政府为人民提供能照顾好自己的资产。优良的教育就是其中很大一部分。另一重点就是中央公积金。每个人工资的五分之一进入他们中央公积金的账户，其雇主再出15.5%。这就使得新加坡人有钱可以付自己的住房费用，养老金，健康护理和孩子的高等教育费用。

There is a small safety net to cover the very poor and the very sick. But people are expected to look after their parents and pay for government services, making co-payments for health care. The older Mr Lee especially dislikes free universal benefits. Once you have given a subsidy, he says, it is always hard to withdraw it. He is convinced that if you want to help people, it is better to give them cash rather than provide a service, whose value nobody understands. China, he thinks, will eventually follow Singapore’s model.

新加坡还有一张覆盖了最贫困和得重病人群的小安全网。但是人们需要自己照顾父母，为政府服务付费，共同分担健康护理费用。李光耀特别讨厌免费的全民补助。一旦你发了一次补助，他说，你总是很难收回它了。他坚信如果你想帮助人民，最好是给他们现金，而不是提供一项价值无人体谅的服务。他认为，中国最终会走新加坡的这条路。

But arguably the place that should be learning most from Singapore is the West. For all the talk about Asian values, Singapore is a pretty Western place. Its model, such as it is, combines elements of Victorian self-reliance and American management theory. The West could take in a lot of both without sacrificing any liberty. Why not sack poor teachers or pay good civil servants more? And do Western welfare states have to be quite so buffet-like?

但是，值得说的是，最应该向新加坡学习的其实应该是西方。对于所有有关亚洲价值观的讨论，其实新加坡是一个十分西化的国度。它的模式，尽管价值不过尔尔，结合了英国自立和美国经营管理理论的元素。西方应该大量吸取两者，不去牺牲丝毫的自由。为什么不辞退差劲的教师或者对好的公务员多点奖励呢？还有，西方福利社会一定要像个自助餐一样无度吗？

By the same token, Singapore’s government could surely relax its grip somewhat without sacrificing efficiency. That might help it find a little more of the entrepreneurial vim it craves.

基于同一理由，新加坡政府也当然可以放松稍许管制，但又不牺牲其效率。这也许会助其得到一点点其梦寐以求的企业家精神。