Business Discipline Meets Historical Records. An MBA’s Review of Policy and Facts.
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Would You Want a MARITES in Management and Economics?
Above is a meme I found on Facebook a few days ago. I thought I'd not be writing anything for now. Instead, I was thinking of giving a "sequel" to my Intrigador Financials joke post (read here). I feel the abundance of social media gossipers has given me the motivation to write another joke post. This time, it's the MARITES which means Master in Arts in Relaying Information Through Exaggerated Storytelling. We can all forget about getting a master's degree in economics. Instead, we can pretend that Intrigador Financials has now opened a financial literacy academy. We can start a new school of management with Intrigador Financials. Instead of a Master in Business Administration (MBA) or a Masters of Arts in Economics (MA Econ)--we can imagine having a MARITES graduate school program from none other than Intrigador Financials.
I was thinking about how Intrigador Financials' MARITES program will try to develop financial literacy. Chances are their preferred mode of payment will be cryptocurrency, preferably through Bitcoin and Binance. The MARITES program will promote the following promises if you join them:
Learn how to gamble your way to success.
Learn how to manipulate cryptocurrency and become an overnight billionaire.
Learn how to time the stock market by determining when to panic and sell your bulk-bought bull market stocks.
Learn how to do day-to-day trading and earn money fast through the stock market.
Learn how to reason out why heads of government are always to blame for inflation.
Learn how to enforce cash dole-outs and learn to reason why a PHP 10,000.00 rollout isn't inflationary.
Learn why foreign direct investment (FDI) is bad and why the Philippines should remain in a protectionist economy.
Learn how to effectively market products by Intrigador Financials.
Learn how to play Axie Infinity at beat the other players.
In the end, you can expect to have billions of pesos when you get your MARITES.
What's the course starter kit? Well, above is Charlie Munger beating down fake financial gurus. Yet, you'll probably end up having courses that are written by the missing Ruja Ignatova, the late Gerald Cotten, Tai Lopez (and his garage), and many more. I could imagine Intrigador Financials might even endorse the writings of the late Bernard Madoff and Charles Ponzi (who died decades ago). There are so many fake financial gurus that I don't think I can memorize all their names, except for those who get overly notorious.
Chances are, I think this group (if it exists) will also align with the economist "think tank" IBON Foundation (read more here). I could imagine if we had Sonny Africa (who I refuse to take seriously) or maybe we could have Binance and Mavis Sky as part of the financial program. Maybe Mavis Sky can keep promoting Axie Infinity as a life-changing game. They will try to say that any scheme against them is nothing more than one done by jealous people.
If this program exists, I could imagine people will be buying cryptocurrency instead. For one, it's a lot more logical to buy devalued stocks either through DIY portfolio or through an index fund. One could consider keeping their AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund going or buying more from any feasible index fund. ATRAM has some good index funds. BPI has a good Philippine stock index fund. Metrobank has some good index funds. These stock funds can be useful in taking advantage of the dip. Though, I think Intrigador Financials will prefer cryptocurrency to hide their schemes. Just think about it how cryptocurrency has been used for criminal operations. I'd probably prefer cryptocurrency if I were a crook. It's going to be much harder to trace me that way.
If this financial training program exists--I can imagine it should be either a pyramid scam, a Ponzi scam, or maybe even a combination of both. Getting a MARITES may easily get the first few easy gains. However, Intrigador Financials will soon rob X to pay Y who joins their MARITES program. For me, no thanks. I had my experiences in being scammed. Joining any too good to be true financial guru programs is definitely not in my agenda.
Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...
I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent . I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...
GMA News When it comes to constitutional reform, I'm afraid one of the worst sources quoted would come from the Makabayan Bloc. Some people I face who are so against FDI also want to end the OFW program. The solution comes out rather absurd, as the Philippines must have its own state where it's all beg and beg . It would be like: "Free education for all! No to FDI for schools!" "Free lunch in school!" "No to open FDI! The government must fund our local production!" " Increase the salaries, lower the prices of goods! " (which is just plain bad accounting ) That's just a few of the crazy demands that have been given! My favorite question has always been, "Where will you get the funding?" The usual answers can be: " Print more money! " "The government should just make it a law!" "Tax the rich all the more!" which can often be accompanied by, " After all, it's the fault of the rich that p...
I must admit that I'm getting tired of all the misrepresentations of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Facebook. Such misrepresentations can come from "think-tanks" such as IBON Foundation, Bayan Muna, and the Philippine Anti-Fascist League. That's why I wrote a couple of posts such as (1) how we need to focus on environmentally-friendly business practices (read here ), (2) that FDIs don't always lead to environmental degradation (read here ), and (3) asking the question if you're willing to support local businesses that destroy the environment (read here ). Besides, economic protectionism isn't a guarantee that environment will be friendly. Both North Korea and Venezuela are known to have very bad environmental practices. Just reading about them can make you dizzy. Protectionism ended up destroying agriculture than protecting it Mao Zedong's "great leap forward" was evidence In contrast to what those "think tanks" want us to belie...
ToonPool There's the call of leftist fools to stop privatization. Many still believe that utilities should be run by nationalization rather than privatization . I've been reading on Facebook where some fools believe that allowing foreign telecommunications companies (telcos) to invest in the Philippines will "risk security". Any telco will risk security if there are no laws to regulate it like the Data Privacy Law. Just because I support private enterprises doesn't mean that I say the government is hands-off. On the other hand, the government has the duty to set rules such as fair compensation, proper employee treatment, safety measures, and the like to make sure that we remain in healthy competition. Some people who keep protesting against the privatization of industries I believe (1) want the government to provide for all the needs of the people (which leads to dictatorship, eventually), (2) have some agenda as to why they're doing it, or (3) these people ar...
