Teaching Economics Only in Fourth Year During K+10 Was Just Plain Absurd

I could remember one of my memories was having a teacher like the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago in high school. She was a pretty strict and brilliant woman like the late senator. Some say she was unreasonable but I wouldn't say that. She was temperamental but she made sense (most of the time) when she was angry. She did flunk me in the first grading but offered to help me as well. Though, I was thinking that economics in high school was rather hard to understand. When I look back--I had a brilliant teacher but the education system was dumb. Maybe, it was for the best that she left the Philippines with my science and math teacher. I ended up thinking it's too bad I wasn't able to communicate with her during my commerce days.

I could think about how learning economics at the University of San Carlos-Main Campus was fun. I think about microeconomics, macroeconomics, and economics during my graduate school days. I think about how the struggle with economics, later on, wasn't so bad compared to high school. Maybe, because I learned better study habits since I never experienced having back subjects. Sure, I had some barely passing grades (my first two accounting subjects) but I didn't get that with my economics. I did have basic economics during my Associate in Computer Science days for one semester. I felt that economics was truly a fascinating subject only during commerce.

I ended up reflecting back on how it's absurd to teach economics only at fourth-year high school in K+10. Economics should be gradually learned in both middle school and high school. That's why I'm for K+12. Economics needs to be gradually introduced and not just a one-shot deal for an entire year. Economic literacy is something that was barely taught. I confess that I even once thought of going to a coffee shop as an "arrogant gesture" without knowing why coffee shops sell higher. If premium ingredients are used, if salaries are high, if the cost of utilities is high then shouldn't customers pay for both the good food and the ambiance? It's like how I paid PHP 250.00 for my Monte Cristo sandwich set in Jolly Bubble because it's a cafe that operates for long hours. If coffee shops don't charge high then they can expect to go bankrupt from using premium ingredients and having a nice ambiance. Some restaurants have service charges to have net profits to keep it going.

Economics is something that shouldn't be waited until college before you know its application. It's something that should be taught as soon as possible and not just during the graduating year. I feel so stupid I only learned how economics is part of life in college but not in high school. Math formulas related to economics run all our transactions. A year of economics before college doesn't even cut it. Somebody may get a high grade in economics during that time. However, I'd like to ask if there was any actual learning really even there? Economics is part of life so why teach it shoddily? Even a brilliant economics teacher is wasted if that's the case.

If economics were taught in both middle school and high school--I could expect students to learn more about it before college. Economics isn't that easy in the long run since it requires plenty of analysis. Microeconomics and macroeconomics are two different but related subjects that are better studied separately. You need to learn the micro before you go to the macro. I think students will learn how economics is part of life better when it's taught in middle school and high school than just being taught in the graduating year.

Honoring the Recently Deceased Jose de Venecia Jr. in a Business/Economics Perspective

That's right. Jose de Venecia recently passed away yesterday. As an advocate for reform, it's sad but true that de Venecia didn't win because he was boring . It was easy to think of him as a boring guy. I remember the time when he was called in ISPUP as Yoda De Venecia (after the Star Wars character). I was just a clueless college student at that time when the ISPUP episode was shown. I was only 13 years old when de Venecia ran for president. It was also that era when Joseph Estrada (who's now 88 years old) ran for president, and it was that time when Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who turned 90 last year) became the chief justice. Just recently, I found this eulogy for JDV. I will not post the whole eulogy, but only the one from the one that would "fit better" for a business-economics blog: He helped advance policies that enabled major infrastructure projects through public private partnerships, converted former military bases into thriving economic centers...

Yes to Filipinas Marrying Foreign Men, No to 100% FDI Shares Ownership?!

Today is Valentine's Day. I feel Valentine's Day is plain overrated. Some people just get a date for the sake of it--even if it means enduring that materialistic girlfriend or abusive boyfriend! Isn't romance a year-round thing? A few Valentine's Day ago, I wrote about Filipinas marrying foreigners and that FDI doesn't include Filipinas dating foreigners . This time to add some comedy, I wrote this post. It's something to say, "Yes! Somebody is married to a foreigner!" It's the hype to get job opportunities abroad or to marry a foreigner. Blossoms Why do Filipinos want to marry foreigners? The Blossoms blog writes down the following: Love and Affection: Love is often the primary reason for marriage, and Filipinas who marry foreigners may do so because they have fallen in love with someone from another country. Financial Stability: Some Filipinas may marry foreigners because they believe a foreign husband can provide financial stability and secur...

China's Real Great Leap Forward and Economic Cultural Revolution Under Deng Xiaoping

Nobody can dare deny that China has become a big superpower. I remembered I went to China last 2007 (which would be more than 10 years ago). China had become such a huge metropolis of power that I'm amazed at it. I was thinking about how Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing were truly magnificent cities before the pollution problem (which should call for eco-capitalist measures). I was thinking about how I never realized China was once dirt poor. Did you know China used to be so dirt-poor? The "economic legacy" of Mao Zedong was a disaster with the so-called "Great Leap Forward". It was a great leap forward all right--a great leap forward to ruin. Mao seeking to avoid the use of foreign resources to launch China proved disastrous. The 1970s would see a dramatic change when Deng Xiaoping finally took over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The beginning of the rise of Communist China under Deng's new political policy would pave the way to China becoming a great s...

Facts vs. Gossip: Did Vietnam (According to Filipino MARITESes) Develop from Its Own Treasury Before Opening Up to FDI?

Vietnam Youth Union It's been 80 years since Vietnam achieved its independence in 1945. Some time ago, I wrote about how Vietnam's Doi Moi actually disproves the Trust Me Bro School of Economics . I wasn't too accustomed to researching Vietnam's ironic economic miracle . Vietnam is a one-party state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The word Communism would evoke fear and terror. What I find funny is that some people are using Vietnam as an excuse not to open up the Philippine economy (read here ). Such misinformed people think that Vietnam "won this revolution," supposedly self-industrialized from its own treasury before opening up to FDI. In short, some people either believe that (1) Vietnam is an example of how a highly protectionist economy works, or (2) that Vietnam made itself rich before opening to FDI. Both of them are lies. I'll focus on the second point for this new blog post! Right now, some people say that I'm just another marites...

Going from Tet Offensive in 1968 to Doi Moi in 1986

Foreign Trade University The Lunar New Year isn't just celebrated by the Chinese. Chinese New Year is one form of the Chinese New Year. Other forms of Lunar New Year follow the Chinese New Year cycle, such as the Tết Nguyên Đán of Vietnam, the Japanese Lunar New Year, and the Seollal in South Korea. There's also the Tibetan New Year and the Mongolian New Year. I remember when talking about Vietnam celebrating the Lunar New Year together with the Chinese, my fellow Chinoy made the squity-eyed gesture to talk about most Vietnamese looking like Chinese. Should we even be surprised that there's a Vietnamese student who looks like the deposed Alice Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping? What was the Tet Offensive about? Right now, I want to talk about the infamous Tet Offensive , which was a Lunar New Year attack of January 31, 1968. The Western concept would prefer to talk about it on January 31 instead of the Lunar New Year. A Filipino would probably say, "So what if it was Lunar Ne...

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