Research Process: Top-Down and Bottom-Up

Selena Ling, Chief Economist of OCBC, joins us in our studio to answer the burning question on our minds: What does a Chief Economist actually do? In this wide-ranging conversation, Selena breaks down how she views the volatility in the markets today, why gold has regained relevance to investors, and why Singapore’s neutrality is more important than ever. This episode isn’t just for those interested in investing - she brings a strong message about how to think clearly in these uncertain times we live in.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝙇𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨
𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 1 𝘋𝘦𝘤 2025, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 https://yahlahbut.short.gy/LGI-goldfund

𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧 – 𝙇𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 (𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙 (𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙨)), 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙨. 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘓𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴® 𝘓𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 (𝘜𝘌𝘕/ 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘰. 198601745𝘋)

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

• Haresh: JAMES BOND | Casino Royale “Daniel Craig” Screen Test
• Terence: $2 vs $20,000 Keyboard!
• Selena: Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀!
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(00:00) Intro
(00:43) What a Chief Economist Actually Does
(01:33) From Law Aspirations to Economics Career
(03:02) Models vs Reality in Economic Forecasting
(04:33) Information Overload and Cutting Through Noise
(06:37) Tariffs, Geopolitics and Market Reactions
(09:49) Crisis Cycles and Market Psychology
(11:05) Why Gold Still Matters Today
(13:11) What Changed in the Global Gold Story
(14:52) Russian Reserves and Asset Access Risk
(17:09) No Alternative to the Dollar and Gold’s Role
(18:25) Is Gold’s Rise Structural or Temporary
(19:47) Singapore Physical Gold Fund Explained
(22:53) Gold as Insurance vs Investment Returns
(24:42) Why Not Put Everything Into Gold
(25:12) Gold vs Tech Stocks and AI Hype
(26:46) Stablecoins and Digital Currency Risks
(29:40) Singapore as a Neutral Safe Haven
(31:24) Are Singaporeans More Financially Aware Now
(34:45) What People Always Ask Economists
(35:59) Silver and Other Metals After Gold’s Rally
(37:11) Faster Crisis Cycles in Modern Markets
(40:06) Central Banks as First Responders
(41:02) Younger Investors and Risk Blind Spots
(44:23) Long Term Planning in an Uncertain World
(47:12) How Economists Process Global News
(50:16) Why Uncertainty Makes the Job Interesting
(51:31) The Value of Alternative Views
(52:02) One Shiok Thing 

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