Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Vietnam now enjoying the benefits of open FDI Source: Quan Doi Nhan Dan Some fools on Facebook are using Vietnam as a reason why the Philippines shouldn't open to FDI. The Philippine Anti-Fascist League (whose original Facebook page has been deleted) spread the misinformation that Vietnam progressed through protectionism. According to PAFL--Vietnam's real "FDI" is in distributing its products worldwide and not by accepting FDI. The idea is absurd on so many levels. Why would countries around the world want to buy Vietnamese products, if Vietnam wouldn't even allow their MNCs to do business in Vietnam?! Instead of listening to what fools say that Vietnam is a protectionist country--let's dig into an important part of its history. This important part of its history is called Doi Moi--which literally translates to restoration . Before that, I encourage you to read my article on why using Vietnam as an excuse against economic charter change for the Philippines, is

Make no mistake that I didn't vote for Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. for president. However, I support any decisions he makes if it's good. Right now, Bongbong should move towards economic charter change, for the sake of better investments. Some Filipinos still think the problem is government corruption. Never mind that Vietnam's current head of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam, ate an expensive gold-crusted steak (read here ). Backlash even continued when Ninoy Aquino Day was moved to August 23, 2024, which is a Friday. August 28 is National Heroes' Day. However, the holiday was  Yesterday was Ninoy Aquino Day. For those complaining about the movement--they need to realize it's a non-working holiday. It's not like Chinese New Year, Ramadan, Eid-El Adha, Christmas, or the Gregorian New Year. Ninoy's death anniversary has its historical significance, not some religious significance. It's not like as if Bongbong's presidential decl

It's been some time since Jesse M. Robredo died too soon. Hopefully, his wife Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo is true to her word, in her willingness to amend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, for the sake of foreign investments. It's a shame I never wrote about the late great man. The CoRRECT Movement on Facebook gave this important note on Robredo's life. Robredo said, "It's not enough for an official to be good. There has to be a system that forces them to be good." Whether or not Robredo was for charter change or a few constitutional amendments, I can't tell. For some racists, let me remind them that Robredo's real surname is Lim  and his paternal grandfather is the late Lim Pay Co.  In terms of Robredo's credentials (and I tend to sometimes brag about the credentials of those I quote), here's what the City Government of Naga website says: He is an Edward Mason Fellow and a graduate of Masters in Public Administration at the John

It's still Buwan Ng Wika or Month of the Language. Even if it's not Buwan Ng Produkto or Month of the Product --I still feel the need to write this. It's because schools tend to focus more on Filipino heritage than the Tagalog language. The meme above with Atty. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna (last 2016) has an absurd statement. Where do you think the microphone and other stuff that Atty. Colmenare is using, came from ? Atty. Colmenares' statement in complete English is, "The moment you allow entry of foreign products in the Philippines, they will beat down the local businesses and industry." The claim to that claim is baloney . What's Atty. Colmenares going to encourage? Would Atty. Colmenares encourage Filipinos to blame the richer Asian neighbors (read here )? Last August 10, I wrote about asking if the Philippines is poorer because Singapore is richer . I find the statement as stupid as saying the Philippine peso is weaker because the U.S. dollar is str

A really disastrous decision! As I read through Facebook, the amazing foolishness and economic illiteracy are there. What do you expect from a nation that's driven by an education system where economics was only taught in either the  third year or fourth year , under K+10? What do you expect from a nation where mathematics education focuses too much on theory rather than the wonderful application of the subject? I'm going to write about those who talk about FDIs, that only they will get rich because they will run away with the profits, etc. It's because I'm afraid there's really a lack of understanding of what profit really is.  Most people in the Philippines may be operating with the typical merkado mindset. I remember reading through the arguments of someone who quotes CTTO Merkado. Who in the world is Merkado CTTO (read here )? As I was thinking about it, I heard about how people running businesses in the merkado or marketplace, whether it's the wet market or

Lawrence Wong's Facebook Page Yesterday was Singapore's 59th foundation day. Okay, I missed it but it's not too late to write this post. Above is a photo of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong shaking hands with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. Whenever Singapore is mentioned, I noticed that some Filipino clowns on Facebook (or any social media) tend to say, "Oh no! Not Singapore again! The  Singapore card again! I'm getting tired of the Singapore argument!" Some of these Filipino Facebook clowns may even have the habit of blaming the rich for their poverty, saying that the rich don't really need that money (never mind big businesses require big amounts of money to sustain it), and maybe even raise the same old Flor Contemplacion Card (read here ). This reminds me that I wrote a post mentioning that the Philippines will never get richer by blaming its richer neighbors . One of the neighbors is Singapore. It can be a common practice for the p

Live Index Yes, the global stock market is currently down. There's no use for the Filipino people to blame President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for that matter. At this point, I'm still invested in the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund (read here ). Right now, I've observed the trend went downward. After the CrowdStrike outage and some problems at Microsoft--I expected that there would be a downward turn. The reasons why stocks appreciate and depreciate are company performance, investor sentiments, industry performance, and economic factors . All these drive the supply and demand up and down. With what happened to Microsoft and CrowdStrike, the setback may have caused people to sell off their Microsoft stocks. In turn, the supply of Microsoft stocks will increase again and the demand will lessen due to investor sentiments. As I Googled "Why must the stock market go down", I ran across the four reasons that the stock market is plunging this 2024 . One of the reason

Buwan Ng Wika (Month of the Language) may not be Buwan Ng Produkto (Month of the Product). I'm going to continue indirectly targeting this fat whiner I dub as Porky Madugo. A lot of Porky's statements on his Facebook account (which I will not link here to avoid getting personal or giving him any more clout) are just plain ignorant or he knows he's lying. One of the statements that Porky said something like this: To all the inattentive people who push for FDI (foreign direct investment), why are you relying on foreigners to have a better economy in the Philippines?  Why don't we just strive to work to improve our economy? Don't keep complaining that the 1987 Constitution is already old and that we need FDI. All you do is rely on foreigners. You are all rocks! Work and don't dilly dally in your jobs. You are not given mininum wage just to be inattentive.  Once again, Porky has his stupid argument based on Pinoy Pride Economics. A few days ago, I wrote an article d

Tatler Asia In elementary, I remember how the Sibika at Kultura (Civics and Culture) subject talked about Filipino achievements abroad. Some great Filipinos mentioned in our classes are the late Lydia De Vega,  Lea Salonga-Chien, the late architect Leandro Locsin, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Raphael "Paeng" Nepomuceno, and Eugene Torre. It's effortless to gloat about Filipinos achieving this and that. One may even notice that these names get mentioned in a Buwan Ng Wika program. By the way, I think Buwan Ng Wika feels more like it should be renamed as Buwan Ng Filipino instead. I mean, the programs tend to raise awareness of one's Filipino heritage and history, more than the Filipino language! The recent wins of athlete Carlos Yulo should be something to be proud of. I see it on my Facebook feed and I feel happy for Carlos, even if I don't know him personally. These days, I've already accepted that I'm a Filipino. Sadly, some Filipino "natives" st