Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Some time ago, I remember doing the act of exonerating the Chinese language teachers (siansi), saying the lesson wasn't their fault but the fault of the system . It became absolutely necessary to remove Hokkien from the Chinese classroom if one expects Chinese to be learned better .  Right now, I still remember my lesson from who many considered the strictest Chinese siansi we had at Bethany Christian School. I remember the old language textbook, considered Chinese Language Arts during her time (called 華語, Huáyǔ) how Chinese was getting over a billion speakers . Until now, I exonerate her because the lesson wasn't her fault. She was just doing her job, including coloring my report card red . She was right about Mandarin's rise in the global market. She was just stuck with being told to use the wrong methods .  As I was watching this video, seeing that even America's richest are now learning Standard Mandarin. Why is that? The China Daily gave this news that made me (1)...

Foreign Trade University I opened my mobile phone and found an article from the Inquirer  that said the Philippines must adopt Southeast Asian models. Not surprisingly, the IBON Foundation was highlighted as among those who made the case. This is an excerpt from the Inquirer article: For Ibon Foundation, “the government should be able to control local oil prices and should not have to pass the burden of rising global prices on to consumers, as shown by other Southeast Asian countries with stronger state intervention.” It cited Vietnam, where oil prices are capped and the Price Stabilization Fund is tapped . It should be crazy that IBON should mention Vietnam. However, IBON continues to promote a flawed view on Foreign Direct Investment . Months ago, IBON (via its executive director, Jose Enrique "Sonny" Africa) even gave a flawed proposal in Follow the Money . Sure, Vietnam has these policies on capping and a price stabilization fund.  What has allowed Vietnam to successfull...

News Feed 360 A few days ago, I wrote an article where I talked about whether or not the best source for anti-reform Filipinos is well— chismis ?  This time, with the news from Business World  that Taiwan plans to build a $1-B plant in Clark City, I felt the need to write a "follow-up" to my article on the best source being chismis.  THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said company is building a $1-billion manufacturing facility in New Clark City (NCC), Tarlac. The agreement has been signed and an advance payment was made, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Joshua M. Bingcang told reporters last week. He said the facility will be located within Filinvest Innovation Park in New Clark City, Tarlac, making it one of the biggest locators in the estate . Mr. Bingcang said the facility will specialize in technology-related manufacturing, without providing details or identifying the company. However, this article will not focus on the business opportuni...

  It's Thursday, and I will try to recall some things from a business and economics perspective. I thought about how I didn't do well as a high school student, and that teachers often tell me to look past by it . Even the late headmistress of Bethany Christian School (who died of cancer in 2019) told me that when my high school report card was submitted ot the University of San Carlos , it should be a letting-go ritual.  I still couldn't get over the toxic attitude that people have towards menial labor. Back then, I remember how I started slipping  in my studies. Eventually, I started getting bad grades. The Filipino subject even had an example of a father trying to get his child to study, showing him the work of menial workers as the "fate of those who don't study hard enough" . The child was scared to see people do carpentry work. I was told that if I weren't studying hard enough, I would end up as a garbage collector. However, Typhoon Odette proved tha...

Everest Electrical I remember that for the past few weeks, electricity in Cebu City has been unstable. Rotational brownouts were happening. I decided to tackle the IBON Foundation yet again after some time. A recent post from IBON said this, in which it criticized President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. for opting for "easy power relief". Here's an excerpt that I'd like to share from that same post, as I'm critiquing IBON: “The small relief that the removal of VAT on system loss charges brings to consumers should not be exaggerated as if this were the solution to expensive electricity,” said IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa. “ The real problem lies in the privatization and profit-driven operation of the power sector itself under the Electricity and Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA Law which oligarchs are profiting from .” Looking into the fallacies by IBON Even more, I feel another post from IBON that I'd like to bring up is how it blame...

Some time ago, I wrote a blog entry where I explained that many Filipinos misunderstand what FDI means . Right now, it's time to answer another misconception. It's the misconception that 100% FDI ownership (often just called 100% FDI, which I believe can be a misleading term) means that Filipino businesses will be put out of business . I was thinking about the concept because it's highly misleading .  For one, we're talking about share ownership, not a foreign takeover This comment I read on Facebook is epic levels of foolishness . I decided to translate it into English and avoid naming the person: Do all types of businesses have to be 100% foreign-owned? Even selling *banana cue*? Are eateries, market stalls, barber shops, vape shops, *sari-sari* stores, locksmiths, welding shops, photocopy and printing shops, etc., all going to be 100% foreign-owned?   The question asked by someone I'll just label as Pirate Flag here is downright stupid! It's now time to reall...

China Mike Today is Sergio Osmeña Day, but it is also Mao Zedong's death anniversary. Mao made his most important contribution to history--he finally died . However, Mao's ideas still live on, and he was a propagator of several foolish ideas. The man had military knowledge but may have lacked fundamental economic knowledge. August may be over, meaning Buwan ng Wika (Month of the Language) is over, but Pinoy Pride Economics, aka Filipino First Policy, knows no season . In fact, I want to talk about one of Mao Zedong's incredibly stupid ideas, namely the Great Leap Forward. As I was navigating Facebook, it's easy to see some people (some are probably stubborn boomers ) who still believe that the Philippines must "self-industrialize" through ideas like this on Facebook , of all places: Instead na umasa sa foreign investments bakit di gumawa ng sariling trabaho na atin (Instead of relying on foreign investment, why don't we make our own jobs)?  Let's start...