Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday told the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) to compile a monthly cost of living index to help the government better understand public perception of the state of the economy.
Chu, who heads the Cabinet’s task force on economics, commodity prices and tax reform, said traditional economic indicators, such as GDP and the consumer price index (CPI), fail to reflect public sentiment because items that are not considered daily necessities carry significant weight.
Chu cited the latest CPI data as an example, saying it is expected to contract 0.68 percent this year given a high base last year, but food costs have surged following Typhoon Morakot.
PHOTO: CNA
ADVISE
To address the issue, the newly installed vice premier directed the CEPD to come up with a cost of living index within a month and publish the data monthly to better advise the government on policy decisions.
“The new index should enable the government to stay in tune with grassroots perception of the economy,” Chu said, adding that the proposal was in line with Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) concept of “grassroots economy.”
Wu said last week that while he was not an expert on economics, he believed the government could use other factors, such as restaurant and retail business volume, or truck traffic flow, to gauge the nation’s economic health.
Chu agreed, saying the government should use language that is more easily understood by ordinary people and factor in the jobless rate, household income and home purchasing power when drafting economic policies.
TAX HIKE?
Chu also dismissed media reports of a business tax hike, saying neither the tax reform committee nor the financial team had mentioned the subject during discussions.
“The reports are groundless,” Chu said of local media reports that the Cabinet planned to raise business tax rates from 5 percent to 6 percent or 7 percent to help rein in government debt.
Chu said the economy remained weak and spurring economic growth would continue to top the Cabinet’s agenda. He urged the CEPD to strengthen its role as an economic think tank.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last