Skip to main content

Why Christmas Every Day (Mixed with More Economic Protectionism) Will Make the Philippines the Poorest Country on Earth

Tomorrow is the time for Noche Buena, right? For Filipinos, there's really that overly festive attitude that makes me think that someone right now might be wishing it was Christmas every day. I decided to write this entry before that "Big Day" (and last year was a cheerless Christmas) for the reason that I could. I felt that all the exaggerations done with citizens saying that inflation in the Philippines is now "highest in the world" is because they feel the need for lavish celebrations (read here). There are complaints about the prices of one kilo of lechon (roasted pig), whipped cream, and almost everything fatty for Christmas dinner has increased. I guess this is what you get from a nation that lives with the mentality of, "If it's bitter then just add sugar. (read here)".

With bad money habits, it's very common for people to splurge on their paychecks (read here). That's why I feel discussing economics with an overspender is incredibly frustrating (read here). Living paycheck to paycheck means you really need to be more careful about how you spend. Instead, they think about, "Payday? Yes! Let's party!" The cycle repeats itself and when December comes, they have no money. They repeat the mentality, "If it's bitter then just add sugar!" They try to celebrate to forget their problems only for their problems to worsen by January. I wonder if they enjoy being chased by their loansharks? They would have the bad habit of borrowing money in order to celebrate. The bit question worth asking is, "Why did you just run out of money? What were you doing?" 

Christmas season is the time for the Christmas bonus and 13th-month pay, right? I guess it's safe to assume that after receiving their 13th month's pay, some of these wastrels may be saying in whatever Filipino dialect they speak, saying, "If only it were Christmas every day!" I believe a good amount of people who are probably wishing for it right now are also the same people who speak ignorantly about economics. They may be the same people who still believe that the Philippines is stuck in a game of conquest between OFWs vs. FDIs (read here). Such people may be saying stuff like, "Are you crazy? Let the foreigners invest here and they will exploit us!" All the while, they hypocritically write it on American-made platforms such as Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, and Twitter. Hypocritically ironic isn't it?

Ever heard of the statement, "Be careful about what you wish for?" Well, that's going to be a cautionary tale. I remembered one of those childhood Christmas specials was called Christmas Every Day. It was a cautionary tale when a little girl (the paternal grandmother of the children) once wished it would be Christmas every day. At first, it felt delightful because there was a feast day after day. However, the effect soon went from good to bad to worse. Inflation happened because supply was short and demand was high. I kind of laughed looking at it when people gave rags to each other because they ran out of presents. Soon enough, the prices of chicken increased as well after the turkey supply got so low. Supply and demand really play a key every Christmas. That's why some stores usually put on sale older items or stock up before Christmas. Some buy cheaper supplies before Christmas shopping begin to make a profit. 

Now, let's imagine Christmas every day happened in the Philippines mixed with economic protectionism. I could think of other consequences that could happen aside from the fictional cartoon I just mentioned earlier. Just think about it inflation has already happened affecting the Noche Buena. I guess such people think that Christmas should make inflation magically go away. Instead, it will make it worse. If it were Christmas every day then commercial establishments (which will be very few thanks to Filipino First Policy) will have to give the 13th-month pay and Christmas bonuses every month. People will be overspending to the point Christmas gifts will be hit by inflation. Worse, by not importing when needed, you can expect the prices of items for Christmas to even skyrocket. Electricity will eventually be so expensive only few can afford it. There will be so many brownouts because only local electricity suppliers will be there. I can expect frequent fires to also happen due to people using faulty Christmas lights or because of excessive usage of Christmas lights. Once again, supply and demand will play a factor to bankrupting a Philippines where it's Christmas all the time.

Worse, it means that the Philippine government will have to borrow money that it can't pay. It was already bad enough that the late Lee Kuan Yew mentioned why he refused to loan money to the Marcos Sr. Administration. If they want it to be Christmas every day then the government will have to borrow more money (eventually) because of inflation. You can imagine hyperinflation. One box of whipped cream will cost as much as PHP 10,000.00 or even higher. If they say, "Well, print more money!" Unfortunately, printing more money will devalue the money. That's exactly what happened with Venezuela (read here). Venezuela has printed so much money that they have inflation to be much higher than the Philippines. 

If they're still demanding also for higher salaries, lower prices of goods, and handouts for all (read here) then they can expect worse. If goods and services are rendered lower then salaries have to be lower. It's absolutely basic accounting that salaries are part of the means of production. If you're increasing salaries then you need to sell at a higher price. To have higher salaries but selling your goods at ridiculously low prices is selling at a loss. If that's their wish to include in their Christmas every day--they can expect businesses to shut down. Eventually, they will start to use expired whipped cream, expired queso de bola, and I hope they enjoy their rotten food for their daily noche buena. It's because fresh food will no longer be available as a result of feasting daily. 

I'm no top economist but I'm speaking this based on basic economics. Christmas should be as it is--an occassion to look forward to. If it were Christmas every day then it will diminish the specialness of the holiday. Then again I guess some people are still having their deluded fantasies of a Christmas every day utopia, am I right? 


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Idiocy of Typing Anti-FDI Rants Using IMPORTED Devices, IMPORTED Platforms, and IMPORTED Social Media

Bulatlat It's very easy to open Facebook (or any related platform) and find lots of stupidity , right? There have been idiotic comments I find on Facebook such as FDI is this and that. We can find "thought leader groups" such as Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Anakpawis, Anakbayan, Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, League of Filipino Students, and Philippine Anti-Fascist League (PH Antifa) who keep ranting about FDI as this and that. I even remember somebody dared to say that FDI caused Egypt to dry up. Ironically, North Korea and Venezuela, two protectionist countries, have very bad pollution problems. I'd blame it that they don't have the money to do a clean-up drive. How can you clean up a polluted river without the right equipment? How can you expect better power efficiency with outdated equipment that keep coughing up, cough, cough, lots of black smoke?  All the talks on social media can be very funny. The big irony is that all calls for "...
Read more

Get Stuck with EDSA, End Up Like Nokia

  Yes, we should never forget what history teaches us. A classmate of mine, back in high school, wrote a simple and blunt essay called "History: A Teacher". I doubt he still has a soft copy, given it was already more than 20 years ago. I'd like to quote Duterte critic Andrew James Masigan wrote this in  Philippine Star --something that should remain relevant: I would never undervalue the 1987 Constitution. It dismantled the legal framework of a repressive regime and established the democratic institutions we enjoy today. For this, I am grateful. The 1987 Constitution was crafted with the best of intentions. It sought to put the Filipino first in all aspects of governance and to level the playing field amongst sectors and peoples.  But it is far from perfect. It failed to consider the importance of foreign capital and technologies and the stiff competition we would have to face to obtain them. In short, its economic provisions were short-sighted . So despite the Constitut...
Read more

It's Incredibly Frustrating to Discuss Economics with an Overspender

Overspending is just bad economics, isn't it? Economics is defined as the following for the sake of a review of high school basics: Economics is a social science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It studies how individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make choices about how to allocate resources. Economics focuses on the actions of human beings, based on assumptions that humans act with rational behavior, seeking the most optimal level of benefit or utility. The building blocks of economics are the studies of labor and trade. Since there are many possible applications of human labor and many different ways to acquire resources, it is the task of economics to determine which methods yield the best results. Economics can generally be broken down into macroeconomics, which concentrates on the behavior of the economy as a whole, and microeconomics, which focuses on individual people and businesses. It had me thinking of 2016 wh...
Read more

Talking Economics with an Overeating Glutton

Two years ago, I wrote an entry about why discussing economics with an overspender is frustrating . Now, I was looking at certain fat people who say really dumb things about economics. Just recently, I was looking at a certain fat idiot (fortunately, he only has 1K+ followers) who posted on Facebook that not only will the parliamentary system cause the Philippines to become a dictatorship, but he also says that changing economic provisions will cause the Philippines to collapse and the country to fall into the hands of foreigners. I won't name the person out to avoid getting personal. However, the person is apparently very fat and he blames capitalism day in and day out. The person even says that businessmen do nothing and it's the employers that do everything. Has that fat slob ever heard that businesses are run by bosses and that if the bosses do screw up, they're the ones who are the most answerable? The employees are the cogs and the boss runs the cogs. I was looking at...
Read more

Social Media Gossipers' Ad Hominems Against Actor Robin Padilla Regarding His Proposal to Remove 60-40

Make no mistake that I didn't vote for Robin Padilla. I feel like I've had enough of voting for celebrities, athletes, and those who I felt are know-nothings in the legislative. However, Padilla recently had his proposal to remove the 60-40 restrictions regarding foreign direct investments (FDIs) . Former Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo was even in favor of that amendment. I guess that's why Philippine economist Andrew James Masigan endorsed Robredo. I may have not endorsed Robredo while Masigan remains to be one of my favorite local sources. The news from GMA News Online reveals these plans by Padilla himself: Senator Robin Padilla said he wanted to revise the Constitution to scrap the 60-40 rule on foreign ownership of businesses to accelerate job creation and competition among industries . In a Monday interview, Padilla said the move would attract more foreign investments to support the country’s economic recovery. “Para sa akin mas...
Read more