Even as the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Workers' Party (WP) traded comparison tables and barbed comments in Parliament, a casual onlooker might be forgiven for wondering just what they were disagreeing over. But in reality, the differences are substantial - in the short term and in their implications for the Singapore that will result. Associate Dean of the SMU School of Economics Professor Hoon Hian Teck said that slower growth means higher unemployment, a link that he noted "seems... to not have been fully grasped" in the debate so far. The historical data for Singapore shows that below a certain gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate - about 6 per cent, he says - the unemployment rate gradually increases. "Since holding a steady job is such a fundamental component of a good life... it is a mistake to think that choosing higher economic growth necessarily means neglecting the good life," he added.