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Would You Support an Environmentally-Destructive Local Business in the Name of Filipino First?

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A very huge misconception especially if you know Singapore's history Some time ago, I decided to write about how foreign direct investments (FDIs) doesn't always mean environmental destruction . I would like to write this post about FDIs and multinational corporations (MNCs). I don't deny that some businesses just fail to uphold environmentally-friendly practices. That's why I also wrote about the importance of going green in doing businesses . Money is only worth it if there are forests to supply trees, there's delicious fish to eat because of clean streams, there's clean drinking water to buy, and the environment is well-taken care of. My money will have its value if I can go to a beach resort that uses its earnings to preserve the cleanliness of the place. Money becomes worthless when there's nothing of value to exchange it with. Poisoned rivers, massive deforestation, etc. will definitely make money worthless . That's why the late Lee Kuan Yew also d

Why I'm Using a Mi-Band

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Last time, I remembered writing about China's Xiaomi phone . So far, I've managed to try out the Mibox and got myself a Mi Band 5. In my quest for weight loss, having a MiBand truly helped even if I started out with a Mi Band 3. This is what I'd like to talk about having a Mi Band. A Mi Band will measure one's heart rate and steps. Not only that, it will record one's activities through the workout mode. You'll need to install Mi Fit though I also suggest installing Notify for Mi Band. Along the way, get the Google Fit application and connect it to Notify for Mi Band. How did I decide to get slim? There are some exercise programs on YouTube. If you've got an android box then you can watch Youtube on television. Alternatively, one can broadcast from Youtube to the television through the android box. I tried doing workouts the old-fashioned way. Before that, I used Samsung Health. I didn't get a clear picture of how much I was losing weight. However, using

Which Former Multi-Awarded U.N. Diplomat Grandpa is Worth Listening to About Economics?

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I feel that one of the biggest obstacles to economic reform is when Filipino naysayers fall back on certain authority figures. It may be the Monsod couple (Christian and his wife Solita Garduno "Winnie" Collas-Monsod), or Hilario Davide Jr. who said something I just can't comprehend. Davide Jr. is supposedly a former UN diplomat. If Filipinos who are against constitutional reforms can cite Davide Jr.--I could cite another scholar about that named Kishore Mahbubani from Singapore. Yes, Mahbubani is a Singaporean- Indian scholar, like Davide, who also has an outstanding academic record and resume. But not everyone who does well in class does well later, right? Nobody should credit the late John Gokongwei Jr.'s successful business career from becoming a valedictorian. On the contrary, Gokongwei Jr. never stopped learning which placed his good grades to good use. Some people do well in the past but fail to preserve the values that made them do so.  One could go ahead and

Why I've Chosen to Invest in Indexes, Not Axies

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I guess it's more than time to tackle on Axie Infinity again. Last time, I wrote a post where I talked about how Axie Infinity promised riches but brought disaster . I even laughed writing about how someone may be dismissing AXA but playing Axie Infinity  thinking that it's an "investment". Instead, it might be wise to get an Index Fund that will start with a minimum of PHP 1,000.00 or higher. GInvest (which has both ATRAM and Seedbox involved) allows some people to start investing for as low as PHP 50.00 though it might be wise to spare PHP 1,000.00 instead. There are two index funds namely the Philippine Stock Index Fund and the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund--both focused on the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEI).  I still remember I wrote about  the irony of gambling but  not  investing . I guess people will find buying index funds or indexes boring. What I noticed after I bought my indexes (and again, I wouldn't tell how much I've placed and neith

Will Opening the Philippines to 100% FDI Lead to Foreign Monopoly?

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Monopoly - Hasbro I was looking at the CoRRECT Movement Moderated Public Forum on Facebook. I found more illogical arguments by a certain troll in the forum named Juan Dalisay Jr.--the writer of the Superphysics One website. However, this isn't the first argument I ran into as I've seen arguments from Kabataan Partylist and the League of Filipino Students on Facebook. They have claimed that foreign direct investments (FDIs) will lead to exploitation, only they will get rich, that they will rape resources, and an even funnier claim is that they will lead to monopolies . Some people, even fools, should be allowed to defend themselves at CoRRECT Moderated Public Forum than just live in their echo chamber of Facebook pages. However, Kishore Mahbubani and the late Lee Kuan Yew had long disproven that . The testimony is in the book From Third World to First by Lee himself. Mahbubani said foreign investors create jobs, bring capital, and teach new skills. I wonder if protectionist adv

Why I Also Plan to Get More Into Feeder Funds

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Well, it looks like the Philippines is hitting a bear market, right? It would be good to start buying some depreciated stocks with money that I don't need for now. As always, it means that I shouldn't put all my savings into stocks and keep a good amount for daily use, and for any bills I have which include my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund. What I'm focusing with the Chinese Tycoon Fund is long-term. Now, it's time to put a certain amount of money in feeder funds to. Once again, I suggest doing it slowly until it becomes a habit. It's like starting with small things then they will become bigger things.  The Peso Lab - Money Guide for Filipinos explains the feeder fund (which is also a Unit Investment Trust Fund or UITF) in this way: What is the purpose of feeder fund?   There are ways to purchase securities. People can buy stocks from the stock market and retail treasury bonds from the government. They can also go to banks, trust companies, and mutual fund companies. Ther

Why I Believe Economic Cha-Cha is Needed to Curb Exodus of Filipino Nurses

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I was looking at the Facebook feeds and I found an interesting feed. It's from the Inquirer's Facebook page and I'm finding some interesting comments here . I'm really thinking about the economic ignorance of some of the comments. I won't be naming them out specifically. If I did, I'd probably have too much to mention. The level of ignorance can go with subsidies, wage increases, and better healthcare systems, but for some, when I mention  open economies-- it seems that somet of them are more than willing to say, "But foreign investors will invade us!" type of talk. I'm getting fed up with such kind of talk. I would like to explain how economic charter change is badly needed if we expect more Filipino workers to stay in the country. One article I wrote some time ago was the myth of invading other countries through labor export and foreign investment . The proof that it's a myth is that the Philippines has been sending nurses abroad. If my estim