Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Back in high school, I could remember whining about why the Philippines was the way it was. At first, I wrote an essay in my high school days about what I'd do if I were president. Just having turned 15 too soon, I remembered writing my stupid solution that I would discipline every single Filipino (read here ). Eventually, I was asked why is the US rich and the people there aren't as disciplined as in Singapore. Even worse, I remembered how the K+10 system tried to achieve economic literacy in just one year in the fourth year of high school. Sure, my economics teacher was as brilliant as the late Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago, or MDS for short. However, my teacher who was as brilliant (and strict) as MDS could only impart  theoretical knowledge. I only knew how economics was used in college . I still feel stupid (until now) because of that! I couldn't understand why the US was a powerful country (back then) and it was the American dream. I had that American dream in high scho

Psychology Today Today is July 4, 2021, and we celebrate Philippine-American Friendship Day. I still find it weird to celebrate Independence Day on June 12 when the Philippines wasn't officially a republic until July 4, 1948. History tells us that the United States of America (USA) was once involved in the rehabilitation of countries after the Second World War. Japan was occupied by the USA from 1945 to 1952. The Philippines was occupied from 1935 to 1946. Japan gained its independence a few years later. However, it's Japan that's now more economically powerful than the Philippines. It's not much to rejoice about if you're the first "truly free" country in Asia if your performance isn't as good as the others. That's why I felt celebrating the centennial last 1998 didn't mean much even if the Philippines did liberate itself from nearly 300 years of Spanish rule.  Though, that didn't end very well. I remembered writing about how the values ed