Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

As the month comes to a close, I reflect on the fact that I wasn't a good student. I remembered telling everyone at the graduation ball, "I almost didn't graduate from high school." I barely passed high school. I was always in panic because of the statement, "Your grades will determine your future!" I remember saying, "Well, what can I do? I'm not a summa cum laude!" I was given the painful answer, "There are some summa cum laudes who never did anything with their lives." Some people are failures all throughout (which I use to justify being stuck with my fixed mindset). Some people are failures at first but become successful (although not necessarily billionaires). Some people are both successful in life and academics, such as the late John Gokongwei Jr. or Mahathir Mohamad. Some people who graduated with honors eventually admit that the school system is too focused on grades rather than learning (read here ). Since these people are p...

I remember Cebu City had severe flood warning going on . I saw some stores at Carbon in Cebu City, getting severely flooded . It was a real nightmare as Typhoon Crising also passed by Cebu. The sight was a disaster. Flooding in Carbon doesn't surprise me. There are a lot of unsavory people in Cebu City's downtown. It's a disgusting thing when I think about stepping on whatever disgusting stuff, that was improperly disposed  of. I would talk stuff like, "It's because of people like you that the Philippines doesn't improve!" It's not surprising to find the news that garbage has been a leading culprit. The government may have some responsibility. However, citizens who love to throw their garbage just anywhere also form part of the problem. Social responsibility falls on both the government and the citizens. Sure, the government has to play its part (ex., making clear policies). However, the citizens should also play their part by not throwing garbage in i...

Financially Fat I was partly inspired by Odette to write this blog. It was during Odette that I realized (at a whole new level) that complacency is deadly . The picture above on the  Financially Fat Facebook page may seem funny. However, this is also written on the Facebook page: We’ve romanticized resilience for far too long. . In the Philippines, or even in international media, “Filipino resilience” is often praised after every typhoon, flood, or crisis. Smiling through hardship. Laughing amidst loss. It sounds inspiring—until you realize it’s also become an excuse . . An excuse for poor disaster response. An excuse for subpar infrastructure. An excuse to stop holding leaders accountable. . We shouldn’t glorify the ability to endure what no one should be enduring in the first place . . Resilience should not replace responsibility. Hope should not replace action. And smiles should not replace solutions. . It’s time we stop clapping for survival—and start demanding systems that pre...

Yawn! Annoyed! These fake game ads need to stop . These deceptive ads should be deemed illegal. The most recent super annoying ad that I've been saying lately is Gossip Harbor . If it's too good to be true, don't believe it! The ad promised that it was free, with no ads, and that those who downloaded it would receive a free gift of USD 100.00. Doesn't that sound too good to be true? I decided not to download it, since I was fearful that Gossip Harbor may contain some dangerous malware . The ad, featuring a Caucasian man saying the stuff I just mentioned earlier, was too good to be true .  What might be driving companies to make these super annoying fake game ads?  Yes, they get super annoying . Come on, it's just plain common sense . Why are these game ads always showing someone playing a basic game, and screwing up ? When you download, you get something completely different . The Udonis blog gives this possible reason behind the fake ads: Frustration Bait (a.k.a. ...

This just in, Kabataan Partylist member Atty. Renee Louise M. Co says what the late Lee Kuan Yew would call  third-world mentality . I'd like ot translate what Louise here is saying, because not everyone who reads my blog speaks Tagalog: Don't use the West Philippine Sea issue to deceive the public into supporting Cha-Cha (charterchange) This this clout chasing at its worse. We don't want foreign control of our seas. However, when charter change is passed, it will give way to 100% ownership to key industries, like utilities, land, schools, media, and other parts of the economy. Economic cha-cha backstabs our national sovereignty.   Kabataan Partylist is committing a false dilemma. A  false dilemma  is defined as:  Description: When only two choices are presented yet more exist, or a spectrum of possible choices exists between two extremes .  False dilemmas are usually characterized by “either this or that” language, but can also be characterized by omi...

There's a need for taxes. However, there's such a thing as  being overtaxed.  I would like to talk about that, as a taxpayer, the rule is  ridiculous . Ralph Recto's proposal may not be for the best, as some may think. As I think about it, the  National Bureau of Economic Research   also gives this thought: Fisman and Wei were interested in fleshing out a widely-held notion -- that higher tax rates will encourage greater evasion - with a study that could assess the magnitude of the effect . So they decided to examine detailed statistics on a range of goods exported from Hong Kong to China, paying specific attention to the value and quantity reported by Hong Kong versus what was reported by China. For those 1990s children in the Philippines, why do you think that buying pirated video games was the thing? It's because the original copies are that expensive . Why do you think pirated DVD sales are hard to combat? It's because the original DVDs cost much more. May I...

We often hear we need to work hard. It reminds me of what I heard back when I was in late elementary, when I hated high school with a passion, and when I actually ended up telling people, "Do you ever wonder why the Philippines doesn't improve?" Of course, if hard work were all there was to it , why are some people stuck in financial difficulty?  Teaching people how not to be too busy to accept improvements I wrote an article that one should never  be too "busy" to accept improvements . We can see that one can work hard without working smart. The two people are introduced to the better round wheel. However, the two aren't thinking that if they had the round wheel , their hard work would pay off better . Changing the wheels from the square tire to the round tire would allow more hard work to be done. How much hard work (that is, delivering rocks) can be accomplished at a faster, more effective rate if they went for the round wheel? Sadly, some people think th...

Vietnam National University It's crazy how people don't realize the bigger picture between Communist Vietnam and the democratic Philippines (read here ). It's really crazy how Senator Joseph Victor Gomez Ejercito apparently thinks that delayed proceedings to Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio's impeachment trial could scare away FDIs. Meanwhile, Atty. Renee Louise Co of Kabataan Partylist could talk about economics, all the while Kabataan Partylist is still against open FDI. It's amazing how Raoul Abellar Manuel, a cumlaude in applied mathematics, still believes in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics! Meanwhile, the biggest picture is that Communist Vietnam , while it's under a One-Party State of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is has the better picture of how to invite FDIs. In fact, the Constitution of Vietnam  is rather silent on economic restrictions . The CPV chooses to impose economic restrictions through legislation rather than enshrining them in its Constit...

The real issue isn't that something is old or new. Instead, if something old or new still works, or doesn't work! Many modern laws are built on some ancient principles, while adjusting to the current times!  The Constitution of Japan is actually older than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, it's more effective for the reasons that (1) their constitution is silent when it comes to regulating economic activities (ex., protectionist measures), and (2) it's a parliamentary system. Honestly, it's a pretty straightforward constitution compared to ours! As Mahatir Mohamad turned 100 today, I would like to raise up Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. once again. The problem isn't Davide's age but his unwillingness to embrace change when needed (read here ). This time, it's time to bring up a contrast between wise old people and unwise old people. A young person can be right where the old person is wrong. A young person can be wiser because he or she lea...