Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

I found this meme on Facebook. For the sake of non-Tagalog speakers, it means: For each one that costs PHP 75.00 no complaints. PHP 50.00 per kilo, always complaining! Last year, I wrote about what's dubbed as pera-normal activities . I would like to write about another cause behind these pera-normal activities. People tend to complain that the prices of goods and services have risen. However, they have no complaints about the rising prices of things they don't need. The meme on Facebook shows two things--the gin and the kilo of rice. I was skeptical about President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. The promise is ridiculous but he won anyway . We can thank the presidential system and the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines for that! Now, critics of Bongbong are demanding PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. Shouldn't the critics show why it's impossible given the current circumstances? This editorial cartoon from The Mani

Disney Let's face it piracy is hard to combat, right? For Filipinos, it's time to be honest that people have been engaged in piracy in some form. It may be pirated video games, CDs, VCDs, DVDs, etc. There are laws passed against piracy. However, one must ask why piracy is so hard to combat. Piracy bypasses through legalities. It's a common practice to have a pirated version of this and that application, because of the price . Installing MS Office and Windows 11 can be costly. It can cost PHP 7,000.00 for Windows 11 Home and PHP 5,400.00 for MS Office. Back in college, people would do anything to get the MS Office and Windows 11 because they needed it for their projects . It doesn't help that some well-to-do boomer are stingy instead of thrifty. It doesn't help either that some people just can't afford to buy the original software--given their income bracket .  It's easy to raise the Filipino First Policy by saying, "Tangkilikin ang sariling atin!"

I only use photo editing and publishing software for casual use. It's not my livelihood but it's just a hobby. As I was watching this one--economics talks about substitutes. In economics, we talk of substitutes as: A substitute, or substitutable good, in economics and consumer theory refers to a product or service that consumers see as essentially the same or similar-enough to another product. Put simply, a substitute is a good that can be used in place of another. Substitutes play an important part in the marketplace and are considered a benefit for consumers. They provide more choices for consumers, who are then better able to satisfy their needs. Bills of materials often include alternate parts that can replace the standard part if it's destroyed. As I was watching it, I couldn't help but say that Adobe's policy (read here ) might encourage piracy further. I bought the Affinity license at nearly PHP 4,000.00. The only recent complaint I might have of Affinity Ph

La Salsa Facebook Page I've eaten at La Salsa Twice. I've tried eating at El Taquito (which is probably no longer operational in Cebu) and El Loco (which closed down years ago). I've eaten the Mexican American style of Red Lizard (read here ). La Salsa Filipino-Mexican Cantina offers a delicious blend of Mexican food for the Filipino customer. It's another experience for delicious Mexican-style cooking.  I've tried their beef fajita and enchilada. These are some of my favorite Mexican foods. For my first two dine-ins--I felt the cozy atmosphere of a home . I expected the enchiladas to be thinner but they are thicker. Perhaps, it's a different enchilada than the one I ate years ago. Both are delicious in their own way. I enjoyed the huger serving of enchilada.  Right now, it's still the soft opening. Some items won't be available at the moment. Based on my own personal review, I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys fusion cooking. I love h

I wrote an opinion piece on  why I believe Adobe has gone too far . I can understand that Adobe was pirated (and it's almost close to impossible to combat piracy in developing countries, mind you). However, I believe that this practice might encourage more piracy in the long run. I was looking at Adobe's plans and my goodness, I have to pay every month to use it. Can a student or a teacher seriously afford the terms and services ? Paying USD 20.00 a month for Photoshop would be equivalent to PHP 1162.48 per month. As I was shocked at the subscription-only model--I decided to buy an Affinity license from Microsoft. I could care less if I had to buy a license now digitally. It's still worth it buying it at one shot (and buying additional content later, that is content that I want ) instead of having to pay Photoshop per month. I wonder if Adobe was intoxicated by its past successes. Adobe became a well-known name. I took a short-term course called Associate in Computer Scienc

Philippine Star Is it me or is the Christmas Season really that toxic in the Philippines? I wrote an article about the irony of early Christmas season with late Christmas shopping . I didn't think about writing this but is it me or do people like to ask for impunity during the Christmas season? Think about that toxic former friend or former romantic partner. You cut off that person because of the toxic behavior he or she shows. However, you meet at a public place during the -ber months. The person says, "Let's reconcile! It's Christmas!" I can be open to reconciliation with classmates with who I had a childish quarrel back in high school. So far, one of the people I had a childish grudge wasn't  a toxic person. The reason why I feel I can reconcile with that person is because he's productive . The same can't be said for people who have a toxic attitude.  What do several Filipinos look forward to during Christmas? Would it be just the spiritual signific

With Christmas just being around the corner--I always associate it with paying some year-end fees (such as real estate taxes), computing the year-end financial statement, and the like. However, it can be observed that some people have a mentality akin to Tomas Mascardo. If you've seen the Heneral Luna movie--one scene has Mascardo leaving his post to attend a town feast. Historian Ambeth Ocampo wrote this in Inquirer  about Mascardo: By the end of April 1899, the enemy was moving steadily northward from Manila in hot pursuit of Emilio Aguinaldo and the Malolos government. Luna, who was then chief commanding general of Central Luzon, ordered all his commanders to be ready at their stations and await instructions from his headquarters in Calumpit. During a particularly trying period, Luna was informed that General Mascardo had disobeyed Luna’s orders by leaving his headquarters in Guagua to attend a fiesta in Arayat . Historians differ on the reason for Mascardo’s trip: One source sa

Back then, I remember borrowing an installer and installing Adobe Photoshop. That was when I had Windows XP and then Windows 7. Now, I'm into Windows 11 after some time. I would like to share my recent experience with Photoshop. Yes, I soon found out that Photoshop can't be used by normal means . I can understand if there's personalization with Windows and Microsoft Office. I'm willing to pay a huge sum for Windows 11 and Microsoft Office. However, I find the subscription for Adobe Photoshop downright ridiculous . I could be willing to pay a huge sum for an online installer. However, if I had to pay every month  then what gives?  Back then, Photoshop was used even by non-professionals . However, Photoshop now has a professional fee every month. It's almost like it's meant to throw a dirty finger at non-professionals like myself. Gone are the days when I learned to use Photoshop during my Associate in Computer Science days. I used Photoshop in its lower forms dur

Tech Republic As Christmas is almost near (and I hate the Christmas season in the Philippines but not Christmas itself), I think of why working on papers and shopping from September up to December is a hassle . I hear the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" at all. However, it's ironic that Christmas starts early but Christmas shopping is delayed until the last minute (read here ). One of the biggest problems that cause shopping (or any transaction for that matter) to become a hassle is AIDS. No, I'm not talking about the AIDS virus but an Internet slang called As If Doing Something. I learned the term during my MBA days. Part of me is wondering, "Was it worth it to get an MBA in the Philippines?" It's because I never learned how to invest in an index fund in school  but through reading Warren Edward Buffett! I remember some of the worst things in my college days. Some people say, "I'm busy!" in the Cebuano dialect. I update

It's October 2024 and I had no topic to write about a few days ago. Today, I decided to write about how using personal attacks is a common tactic . The use of Ad Hominems or personal attacks is attacking the person instead of the argument. Such people don't care if they contradict themselves--as long as they can insult because they're losers . One of the things I noticed is how I discuss the laws of economics. However, I can get an answer like, "Muh supply and demand! Da conspiracy of supply and demand!" I purposely misspelled the words to show how the person's lack of knowledge and use of mockery. Such persons can repeatedly hurl insults like saying I'm stupid, room temperature IQ, fake IQ, traitor to my fellow Filipino, etc. The list can go on and it's both amusing and irritating to recall every bit of insult I've had. But as advised, I'm told to learn to ignore insults  or laugh at them. An anonymous quote, probably said by Socrates was, &qu