Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

You know how stressful it gets arguing with such small-minded people! I remembered it was more than 20 years ago when I first went to Singapore. I was always wondering why Singapore was so clean and was such a successful country. What truly amazed me was that Singapore's facilities and everything were so advanced compared to the Philippines. The moment I returned home to Singapore was like waking up from a dream. It was back to reality in Cebu that was dirty here and there. I seriously wondered what Singapore's secret was. I felt it was just a disciplinary environment that made Singapore rich. I even wrote in my fourth grading Asian history exam that I'd follow what Singapore did--a disciplinary country. Yet, is discipline really enough? Can you even discipline the poor when the parents tend to work multiple jobs rendering it near impossible?  I didn't really know the answers until I found the CoRRECT Movement website. I don't want to talk about politics here. Inst

  One of the biggest common mistakes about foreign investments is that it's all about "relying solely on foreigners" or "it's not going to develop the national industry". I agree that relying solely on foreign investments is not good. It's because if there are no local suppliers of local raw materials--foreign investments may have to rely purely on importation which isn't a good thing. Meanwhile, a nation will develop its agriculture and the like to provide raw materials for all kinds of buyers. It's pretty much a two-way street when it comes to investment. The late Lee Kuan Yew also talked about greening up Singapore along the way before it progressed. Singapore accepted foreign investments while it was still a third-world. However, it didn't neglect its own local industries. Reading through Chapter 4 of From Third World to First will tell us lessons about foreign investments. Lee saw them as the opportunity to bring in jobs, teach new skill

Moneymax I could remember the pandemic when ordering from GrabFood and Foodpanda became the thing. The COVID-19 pandemic would've totally stifled the restaurant and food businesses, especially before the vaccinations. Right now, I've had my three Pfizer shots in total. As restaurants began to re-open, dine-in was still strictly not allowed until a certain percentage of Cebu City was vaccinated. I began to order some food whenever I need to (or want to) even with such limited choices. This had me thinking about how imported services can help local businesses.  Whether those "nationalists" want to admit it or not--neither GrabFood nor Foodpanda are founded by Filipinos. Instead, GrabFood is founded in Singapore and Foodpanda is founded in Berlin, Germany. If it wasn't for the fall of the Berlin Wall--there would be no Foopanda. Back then, I remembered dining in my favorite local restaurants. However, the delivery service came and there were times I felt too lazy to

Listen to him and those who think alike, not the naysayers! Amazingly, some people confuse foreign direct investment (FDI) with foreign debt . They think letting foreigners invest in the country will increase the national debt. These are two totally different terms . I really have to laugh when somebody tells me that FDI will increase debt. I would say it's laughable because debts and investments may be related but they're two totally different words. A person may get into debt to invest in something. A person may get into some debt to build a commercial building or buy the land. However, a person invests when the commercial building is open for rent to pay back the debt. Debt is basically an expense because you need to pay back the money. An investment is an inflow of money.  What is foreign debt?  The Investopedia defines foreign debt as: Foreign debt is money borrowed by a government, corporation or private household from another country's government or private lenders.

  There are many different techniques in stocks. The one that's most commonly known is to buy low and sell high . However, some people are willing to buy appreciated stocks (or appreciated cash investments involving stocks such as the Unit Investment Trust Fund or UITF) for a reason. It just baffles me. I decided to read through Forbes and found out these reasons which could be why I think some foolish people might give me my benefits: Why Others Buy Stock When You Sell Each of us has different investing goals and investment plans. You may be saving for retirement while someone else is day trading stocks. Or you’re an institutional investor managing a billion-dollar pension. Different goals mean different motivations and actions. If you are selling, why might someone else be buying? They Have Regularly Scheduled Investments   There are investors who have regularly scheduled investments, such as a retirement account contribution each paycheck. This approach is an investment strategy

Business 2 Community I was thinking about how some people still think traditional communism is a good idea when it isn't. Maybe, one can say (or I did say it once) that communism works because of Vietnam and China. However, both China and Vietnam have adopted some form of capitalism even if they still considered themselves socialists or communists. The late Do Muoi (who died on October 1, 2018) and Deng Xiaoping both understood that, while they lived, private enterprises and foreign direct investment (FDI) would effectively finance their communist states. It was something that traditional communists like Karl Marx and Mao Zedong failed to see. The late, great Lee Kuan Yew mentioned both Do and Deng in his book From Third World to First. I've been noticing Filipino leftist Facebook pages such as the League of Filipino Students, Anakbayan, Bayan Muna, Migrante International, and Philippine Anti-Fascist League want to go against capitalism. Yet, even Deng who felt that the "s

Scrolldrop Philippines I think I might do a bit of a throwback post for Thursdays every now and then. Since it's summer--I could remember taking summer classes nearly non-stop. It was summertime and I was taking summer classes at the University of San Carlos- Main Campus  where it would be considerably hot in contrast to Talamban. Jollibee was right next near to it. Jollibee served as a quick, affordable meal for a student. If there was one thing that I ordered after summer classes were over--it was the ice craze. The heat of the summer makes me think of this now- extinct  product line. It was that time when Jollibee Foods didn't buy Mang Inasal's 70% shares ownership. I remembered how every time it was hot--ice craze felt like the solution to it. Being a coffee drinker, I would take coffee jelly the most. Although, I also enjoyed mais con hielo. Taking a coffee jelly after classes gave me some energy to study for my summer exams. It was going on for some time so I felt it