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Singapore devotes less than 4% of its GDP to healthcare in part because its average citizen is young. As the country has become developed, the birth rate has fallen, life‐expectancy has lengthened and the cost of care has shown signs of escalation. This has occurred despite the extensive cost‐control measures built into the mandatory system of medical savings and the opt‐in supplement of medical insurance. The threat of care inflation is that much greater because of Singapore’s attempt to position itself as a regional treatment hub, because of rising incomes and expectations, and because of a shortage of doctors and nurses which is driving wages up. Old age is contributing to the problem but, the article shows, is not the only cause.

C.A.R. Crosland (1918‐1977) was a British politician and a Cabinet Minister. He was also a former lecturer in economics at Oxford. His interests in Labour politics and in the mixed economy led him to write The Future of Socialism. Published in 1956, it is a contemporary classic of political economy and social economics. Abridged when it was reprinted in 1964, however, the edition of the Future which readers today will know is significantly different from the original edition that exercised so much influence in the 1950s. Attempts to provide a variorum that identifies the differences between the editions. Finds that 172 pages were subject to alteration and deletion. Suggests the ways in which the changes might have altered the message that the author intended to convey.

Thailand, like a number of other less‐developed countries, has experienced a rapid rise in the share of its national product that is being devoted to health. This paper examines the ways in which the country is paying for its preventive and curative care. Section 1 provides the context by discussing age‐structure and geographical distribution of the population, together with the rates of mortality and morbidity. Section 2 explores the delivery of medical attention, private and State. Section 3 evaluates seven ways in which medical care is financed in Thailand. It also makes recommendations for the future of social insurance which are of relevance both to Thailand and to other countries at a similar stage of economic development.

Countertrade has grown into a phenomenon too important to be ignored by business practitioners, researchers, and governments. In particular, as a growing number of countries in Eastern Europe open their markets to international trade, business firms can realize a great number of opportunities. Yet there is a dearth of empirical research on countertrade arrangements with this region of the world. The present study investigates this issue. Specifically, it examines the benefits and pitfalls of countertrade between U.S. companies and Eastern Europe and compares them with those of similar arrangements with other parts of the world. Some explanations as well as implications and limited generalizations are developed.

With the increasing use of the Internet and social media, governments worldwide are adopting digital technologies and innovative strategies to communicate and engage with their citizens. Public sector agencies, especially at the local level, have been adopting emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial Intelligence, and blockchain and they are increasingly leveraging big data analytics to improve their decision-making and organizational performance. These rapid innovations pose important questions about, and concerns for, the privacy and security of the citizens accessing government information and services online. This chapter explores these issues, discusses the role of privacy policies in addressing such concerns, and highlights the need for ethical privacy policies to restore the trust and confidence of citizen users of government websites.

The Republic of the Philippines is seeking to expand access to the formal sector of medical care. Concentrates on the alternative ways in which that expansion can be financed. First, provides the background by presenting data on mortality and morbidity as indicators of health status, and of manpower and institutions as measures of care inputs. Second, examines private payment, concentrating on family resources, community co‐operatives, private insurance and employer provided services. Third, considers direct provision and national health insurance, which are the principal modes of public payment for care. Makes recommendations about the financing of health care and the mixed health economy that are of relevance in developed and less‐developed countries alike.

Singapore does not have a welfare State. Instead it has full employment, rapid growth, affordable education and equality of opportunity. It also has the Housing Development Board and the Central Provident Fund. Public housing and compulsory savings are the subject of this paper. The purpose of the study is to investigate the nature of the symbiosis and the strategy.

The paper collects evidence on housing and superannuation to establish the precise link between them.

It is established that a great deal of Singaporeans' savings and wealth is locked up in their flats and houses. It shows that the relationship is risky in view of a rapidly ageing population and an increasing life‐expectancy in the post‐earning years.

Singapore is used as a case study to derive lessons for other countries wishing to combine good housing with adequate retirement provisions.

The paper seeks to show that housing and superannuation are both valuable elements in responsible public policy, but that, when combined, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Singapore's rapid economic progress has been accompanied by a series of experiments in medical savings and health insurance. This paper aims to examine the “three Ms” – Medisave, MediShield, and Medifund – in order to establish the way in which the policy‐instruments are expected to deliver the status required.

The paper collects evidence on both outcomes and payments.

Results show that a nation in which the median citizen is under 40 is in a strong position to rely principally on individual medical savings accounts. The paper predicts that Singapore, as its population ages, will probably rely more heavily on risk pooling and insurance.

The practical implications are that an extension of insurance is inevitable, but that earmarked savings will probably remain the first line of defence.

The paper is the first to document the Singapore experience of payment for health. It draws inferences and makes recommendations that will be of interest to policy makers both in poorer and in richer countries.

Recession and competitive pressure in the global arena, allied to the emergence of large, long‐term potential markets, have intensified both the incentives and the opportunities for countertrade. Examines findings on the generic countertrade approaches of major British companies and analyses attitudes concerning proactivity towards countertrade. Unexpectedly, finds that proactivity varies inversely with the value of individual one‐off contracts and directly with the degree of repeat business. Explores the merits of a proactive approach to countertrade, contingent on business environment dynamics and reflecting organizational competences.

Browser fingerprinting is increasingly being used for online tracking of users, and, unlike the use of cookies, is almost impossible for users to control. This has a major negative impact on online privacy. Despite the availability of a range of fingerprinting countermeasures as well as some limited attempts by browser vendors to curb its effectiveness, it remains largely uncontrolled. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper provides the first comprehensive and structured discussion of measures to limit or control browser fingerprinting, covering both user-based and browser-based techniques.

This study discusses the limitations of counter browser fingerprinting measures and the need for browser vendor support in controlling fingerprinting. Further, a somewhat counterintuitive possible new browser identifier is proposed which could make cookies and fingerprint-based tracking redundant; the need for, and possible effect of, this feature is discussed.

This study provides the first comprehensive and structured discussion of measures to limit or control browser fingerprinting. Also, it proposes a new browser identifier that could make cookies and fingerprint-based tracking redundant.