Why is it not possible to export a class instance in TypeScript?

I had to come up with the following workaround to generate proper javascript code

Not a workaround. This is the standard way in TS to do a root level export.

Is there an easier way of achieving this

Yes. export = new Variable. Example:

export = new Foo();

Future

For ES modules you should instead use a default export:

export default expo = new Logger("default");

Which will in most cases have the same effect as a root level export.

On https://k94n.com/es6-modules-single-instance-pattern is an additional way of doing this:

export let expo = new Logger("default");

Which has the advatage that it is possible to export several class instances in a *.ts file.

Quite by accident, I found this way to export an instance:

class MyClass(){}

export default new MyClass();