Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

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...

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...

Today is the second death anniversary of Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister. It's a sad fact that Abe died so soon via assassination. This reminds me of a certain fool on Facebook (who's got a strong anti-Marcos rhetoric) who said, "We don't need 100% FDI share ownership. We just need strong leaders like Shinzo Abe!" The same fool had already blocked me on Facebook. I want to really dance for joy when it happens. As I examined his logic, I found that many Filipinos still misunderstand the lack of FDI inflow. Of course, some keep talking about the late Benigno Simenon C. Aquino III, as to why there's no need for constitutional reform (read here ). However, relying on past successes as not to improve anything in the present, will murder any more chances for future successes. There's a real problem with the statement. One needs to take a look at the Constitution of Japan . Some might argue that it's actually older than the 1987 Constitution of...

Yes, Thomas Sowell is a former Marxist . That's probably why commie hippies call him all sorts of degrading names, without otherwise proving him wrong. It's because insults are the losers' tool to win. Fast forward, some people advocate that the government should be the one to provide everything. Groups such as those belonging to the Makabayan Bloc (such as Kabataan Partylist) or IBON Foundation still advocate for the Philippines to "industrialize on its own".  Others think that the government should continue subsidizing costs, as it was in the "good old" first Marcos administration. Some people talked about how "cheap" things were during the First Marcos Administration, never mind that the country was already sinking due to massive debt . Yes, the First Marcos Administration was a highly protectionist regime . Don't believe what IBON said (and take what they say with a grain of salt ) that the first Marcos Administration was neoliberal. No...

Here's another art I found on Facebook. Some time ago, I wrote about how the 60-40 policy may not prohibit, while still discouraging FDIs from entering . It's plain common sense, really, that nobody would want to rent a space if they had to part with 60% of their net profits to the lessor (read here ).  It annoys me to think that certain Netizens on Facebook are still blaming government corruption over the 60-40 policy. That can get annoying. I can link the 60-40 policy to government corruption . After all, corrupt officials want to perpetuate their stay in power through an ignorant and impoverished population. However, blaming corruption alone is really downright stupid. Some say investors are going to Communist Vietnam because the Communist Party of Vietnam-Vietnam People's Army is serious about cracking corruption. However, the reality is that, ironically, Communist Vietnam has more reasonable economic restrictions compared to the Philippines (read here ). Only a few sec...

I'm amazed (but not surprised) at Kabataan Partylist's economic illiteracy . The group seems to be stuck in the pre-Doi Moi days of Vietnam. Do they believe that Vietnam actually got rich through national industrialization? Thankfully, the Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page (old one) collapsed like the Berlin Wall. However, I decided to look at Kabataan Partylist's Facebook page and found another idiotic statement. Yes, it's by Atty. Renee Co. Right now, with the Philippine justice system being so weak (just remember how the Vizconde Massacre and the Chiong Sisters Case are both, case unclosed ), I'm no longer too beholden to lawyers. There are good lawyers but I don't think Renee is one of them! Anyway, to translate Renee's statements in English, it would be like: The real reason behind the oil price hike is deregulation. The government is no longer in control and they're allowing the oil businessmen to increase prices, whenever they wish. Eve...