Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

This has to be one of the most annoying scams ever. I may be in favor of SIM registration but you must realize it only reduces the chances of scams. Some people may still undergo the black part, buy multiple SIM cards, and not register them. Some of them may be hacked. However, without a SIM registration, I believe these SIMs can easily be blocked and marked as scams. Though, it might take more technology to trace them back. Right now, this is what's called the One Ring Phone Scam  reported last June 2023. How One Ring Phone Scam works Scammers will typically use an auto-dialer to make mass international calls to numerous people at once . Spoofed phone numbers will be used to seem legitimate in the caller ID display. They will only allow the phone to ring once then hang up, prompting a missed call notification on your end . If you call back, you risk being connected to an automated machine that will either ask you to stay on the line or connect you to a premium-rate number without

During the pandemic, I was left in limbo thinking about my poor performance under K+10. It was something to think about that a classmate of mine who was both a summa cum laude and an honor student, ended up posting on his wall, "Students cheat because the education system cares more about grades instead of learning." The class salutatorian of our batch even commented about the good old days. I always had that feeling of insecurity and envy towards people better than me. But as Warren Edward Buffet would say, "Don't hate successful people. Learn from them instead." One of them is currently a teacher and the other is in Canada. I thought about my insecurities especially when I used to believe I was descended from a fine scholar and my family was a family of scholars.  I remembered the time I was taking MBA and got conned. I was asked, "Is that what MBA taught you?" I got touchy and ended up admitting, eventually, that I was only taking MBA for the presti

It's often said by idiots on Facebook that allowing FDIs to own 100% of their shares is just going to leave the Philippines with nothing. I don't know how long I can keep my patience with such fools. To explain it, FDIs get rich based on net profits after taxes (read here ). FDIs will still end up paying VAT and income taxes if they want to continue investing in the Philippines. It's like if you want to continue doing business in the commercial space--you need to pay the rental fee to your lessor. The idea of 100% FDI ownership should be spelled out as, "Allowing FDIs to own 100% of their shares." They wouldn't need to find a Filipino partner before they can do business in the Philippines. They may not be allowed to own land  but they can operate without a Filipino partner. The even bigger stupidity is when FDIs are required to split 60-40 of the partnership. Meaning, that they must split 60% of the net income after taxes with the local Filipino partner. That&

I remembered the 2016 elections and I was talking about the need to abolish 60-40 ownership for businesses. Somebody foolishly told me, "Why will you let them invest here! Only foreign investors will get rich! (Read my answer  here )" There are many reasons people say such foolishness. I blame a lot of stuff such as economic illiteracy, the person being just plain stupid (then again, some stupid people may be better than me financially), or they're just plain dishonest. If there's one thing that some people forget about swindlers--it's that swindlers know they're lying. I bet Charles Ponzi, from long ago, knew his plans were too good to be true. I feel the late Bernard Madoff knew he was lying. I feel that people behind the cryptocurrency scam know they're lying. I feel some people posting anti-FDI sentiments on Facebook also know they're lying . They know that FDI helps a country but there are some selfish interests on the part of those who say it. It

A really disastrous decision! Before the Buwan ng Wika ends, I want to write about those who have been demanding "Sahod itaas! Presyo ibaba!" (Raise salaries, lower prices). Back in 2022, I wrote an article discussing why the demands for higher salaries, lower prices of goods, and handouts for all are a recipe for disaster . I could laugh at people who believed in the promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice promise of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Before that, people had been demanding #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba during the reigns of the late former president Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.  Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020 I did explain why the model doesn't work. In the cost of production, you need to account for everything that happens including salaries . Raising salaries during inflation can actually worsen the situation . It's because sticky inflation happens with cost-push factors (ex. cost of gasoline, co

It's National Heroes Day, right? Three years ago, my life almost came to a halt and it was worsened by Odette. It was a good thing that I was already vaccinated twice before Odette came in 2021 . I remembered how some business establishments in Cebu City, Philippines, helped in the COVID-19 relief operation. One of those I remembered was Cherry's the Spice on the way to Talamban, Cebu City. Cherry's the Spice was among those who participated in the frontline when they gave food to the military and medical personnel. ABACA Group also gave some food to the health workers. Little India Healthy Cuisine also gave some vegetarian food to hospital workers. It was a difficult time and I had to learn to ration food at that time. I would eat whatever was available. There were also foreign food companies that helped in the pandemic. We also can't discount the employees who helped distribute the food. Without employees, a company can never move forward and employers owe them their

If there's any reason why some people are angry with the rich--it's because of rich people who look down on the poor. Some people are born rich without knowing the struggles of the one who originally acquired the wealth. Some rich parents make the fatal mistake of making their children feel entitled. Meanwhile, some rich parents make their children do the right thing by not waiting until things get too far. Some rich parents end up making their children attend middle-class schools, do summer jobs, work as employees in their own businesses, and teach them the value of wealth, especially by narrating the struggles before they got wealthy. In looking for a business partner, I feel it's very important to look at the attitude of these people. How do they treat people who do menial work? I could imagine looking forward to a business contract. However, it turns out that the potential business partner is a spoiled brat . Maybe, it's already a red alarm if I'm invited to an