I'm spending Christmas/New Year in Singapore... one of my favourite places. It's BOOMING... shipping, financial services, retail. The mass transit is efficient and cheap. The people are very friendly and also pretty rigid - try changing a menu item or being a bit innovative about the way you do something.

I also watched AS I & II here, which really got me thinking. About nations-states, city-states, Western (especially American) rugged individualism vs Asian-style paternalistic collectivism.

Singapore is pretty much run as a private company by the ruling family. There is limited freedom of expression by almost no open descent. Yet the government seems to have created a physical and economic infrastructure that allows business to thrive.

Which brings me back to thinking about the role of government. I doubt many here would disagree that less is better. I think Singapore also shows that a City-State that is open to the world and open for business can be a VERY effective model.

So I'd love to hear what members of this group think governments SHOULD do... (Maybe nothing, but that seems to degenerate into war-lordistan pretty fast)...