Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

China Mike Today is Sergio Osmeña Day, but it is also Mao Zedong's death anniversary. Mao made his most important contribution to history--he finally died . However, Mao's ideas still live on, and he was a propagator of several foolish ideas. The man had military knowledge but may have lacked fundamental economic knowledge. August may be over, meaning Buwan ng Wika (Month of the Language) is over, but Pinoy Pride Economics, aka Filipino First Policy, knows no season . In fact, I want to talk about one of Mao Zedong's incredibly stupid ideas, namely the Great Leap Forward. As I was navigating Facebook, it's easy to see some people (some are probably stubborn boomers ) who still believe that the Philippines must "self-industrialize" through ideas like this on Facebook , of all places: Instead na umasa sa foreign investments bakit di gumawa ng sariling trabaho na atin (Instead of relying on foreign investment, why don't we make our own jobs)?  Let's start...

Daily Tribune Just looking at this picture of Atty. Renee M. Co of Kabataan Partylist  using a MacBook makes me laugh. Honestly? I thought about how I'm often berated that, "What have you done compared to Kabataan Partylist?" I remembered writing an article about the irony of using imported equipment to type information against FDI . Honestly, it gets super funny . After all, Kabataan Partylist is part of the Makabayan Bloc . Groups like Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and League of Filipino Students all fall under the  Makabayan Bloc . Their stance has still been a stone-age understanding of what FDI is all about.  The possibility that Kabataan Partylist members have been telling people that a wage increase, not FDI, is key to long-term growth, using a MacBook, is there In fact, one of the craziest things that Kabataan Partylist said (and probably still stands by) is this idea. They believe that wage hike is what's needed, not more FDI. Do they ...

Foreign Trade University I was wondering which business or economics blog entry to post. As I was looking at the class suspension in Cebu right now, I thought about writing about education as my first post in September 2026. I looked back and thought about how the Philippine education system has lagged behind . At the same time, I thought about how Communist Vietnam ironically created the Foreign Trade University . Cebu City right now has these problems of (1) rotating brownouts due to red alert with the grid, (2) the current smog issue with Indonesia , and (3) floods. I was thinking about how schools have been affected as well. The equity rule of education in the Philippines vs. Vietnam  The IBON Foundation called the economic charter change in education "unnecessary"  last May 9, 2024. Here's an excerpt from the article that continues what I might call  fear-mongering : Opening schools to foreign ownership and presence might come at a great cost to educators and future...

Taiwan Today The issue with Pax Silica shouldn't be viewed as black and white. Instead, I thought about how Pax Silica's yes-or-no should undergo thorough examination . In fact, the Philippines can set mutual conditions, like every other country, regarding the Pax Silica agreement. It would be a mutual benefit between countries within the Pax Silica. Now, it's time to look at the possibility of Taiwan joining the Philippines Pax Silica .  Let's analyze the possible Taiwan/Philippines partnership with Pax Silica An article by  Tech Pilipinas , written by  Luis Reginaldo Medilo, reveals details that could help the Philippines more than just arbitration: Taiwan is looking to the Philippines’ planned Pax Silica industrial hub in New Clark City, Tarlac, as a potential venue for cooperation in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said this week, as Taipei seeks a role in emerging trusted supply chains across the Indo-Pacific. The P...

Some people might say that Benigno Simeon A. Aquino Jr. said something concerning about "developing ourselves". However, his speech in Los Angeles in 1981 reveals another crucial detail about what he actually thought about FDI during the first Marcos administration. That was a time when the Filipino First Policy festered into an economic crisis. Q: If you will become the next president of the Philippines, what will you do with the U.S. investments or big foreign investments in the Philippines?   A: That’s a very very good question because there is a misconception that if the opposition wins in the Philippines, we will kick out all American/foreign investments. But why should we do that? Foreign investments are in the Philippines to give employment to our people. We should watch against predatory foreign investments who are exploitative of the Filipino people. But I cannot accept that all foreign investments are exploitative. There are many foreign investments that are helpfu...

As debate rages about Pax Silica, from outright opposition to taking a negotiated stance , I want to write more about it. This time, I decided to look again at the IBON Foundation's logic. A recent article by the IBON Foundation, written by Jose Enrique "Sonny" Africa , asks, " Whose industrialization is it anyway? " It would be time to tackle what IBON just said. This is a rather daring move because the highest educational attainment I have is an MBA, and I'm even starting to wonder even today, "Was my MBA worth the fee?" because I only learned how to invest in foreign stocks while opening a GCash account because I wanted to order shawarma. Right now, I feel like I'm actually learning more blogging here than pursuing a PhD whic might make my brain rot due to how schools prioritize grades over learning.  Now, going on to the topic, I'd like ot focus on Africa's logic here as an average citizen . Just because I didn't graduate in eco...

Filipino-Japanese Journal Yesterday was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima . The bombings are often controversial, as they show the history of violence . This reminds me of an argument that I often heard: "If the Philippines didn't have its Marcos Years, we would've still been richer." However, I raise the harsh reality that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were far worse than what a kleptocracy can do in 20 years. The devastation was huge. In fact, reading this from the History website article by Sarah Pruitt made me think that this devastation could do more damage than a kleptocracy: On August 6, 1945, just days after the Potsdam Conference ended, the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb known as “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Despite its devastating effects, Japan didn’t offer unconditional surrender right away, as the United States had hoped. Then on August 8, Soviet forces invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria, violating an e...