新加坡的致富祕訣是什麼？
Singapore has been called the 20th century's most successful development story.
新加坡被稱作20世紀最成功的致富傳奇。
"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個國家的經濟，”美國密歇根大學的經濟學家琳達·林說道，“甚至是亞洲四小龍其他成員，在頭20年中，竟可以在穩定發展，完善就業，和改善社會指標上（包括壽命，教育，住房等）取得如此快速的數據增長。”
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.
正是李光耀成就瞭如今的新加坡，他於上週逝世，享年91歲，是他領導了新加坡的經濟轉型。作爲20世紀最有影響力的領導人之一，李光耀讓這一小塊土地成爲了世界上最富有的地方之一，併爲亞洲和其他國家的政府樹立了榜樣。
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.
新加坡土地面積小，沒有自然資源。但是自1965年獨立以來，這塊前英國殖民地開始向製造業和金融中心轉型。
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.
保守黨將新加坡視作一個自由市場的成功案例。低水平稅收、資本管制和自由的移民政策，使其成爲世界性的國家。
"They have very, very free trade, very low tariffs [and] very few non-tariff barriers," says Josh Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations.
“他們有着非常非常自由的貿易，關稅很低，而且基本沒什麼關稅壁壘，” 外交關係委員會的喬什·科蘭滋克說道。
"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.
“一些大型產業均爲國有——制船業、電子、銀行，而如今他們也滲入了私人銀行——這麼做是因爲李光耀政府的特別規劃，並引導國家資金進入這些領域” 科蘭滋克說道。
The government also provided social services like housing and health care, in a way liberal economists applauded.
政府還提供社會福利，比如住房和社保，在某種程度上令自由主義經濟學家誇誇不絕。
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.
如今的新加坡是一個成熟的經濟體系，如同日本，其經濟增長已經減緩。科蘭滋克稱，它和其他西方國家一樣陷入同樣的困局。
"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.
“人民安居樂業，但是人均GDP隱藏了高度不平等的問題，所以這必然是當今新加坡的主要問題，而且也是現任新加坡總理面對的問題之一。”他說。
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.
但新加坡依然爲生活質感極高的大型金融中心，而李光耀將被銘記——他是這一繁榮的最大功臣。
