Commentary
Rate expectations: Rethinking PH credit ratings
December 12, 2024
The economic managers don’t seem to realize that credit ratings are just, well, credit ratings. These shouldn’t be overstated as any kind of measure of economic performance or much less of national development.
BBM admin to foreigners: Take our land, please
November 12, 2024
COMMENTARY
The proposal to increase the land lease limit to 99 years really won’t make much difference in making the Philippines more attractive to foreign investment, and certainly won’t mean anything for long-term economic development.
Unregulated power rate hikes: What are friends for?
October 31, 2024
The automatic power rate hike proposal is yet another step backward away from protecting consumers and regulating profit-seeking firms providing essential electricity services.
Mining incentives for our industrialization?
October 30, 2024
Incentives for mineral processing will support industrialization only if they prioritize Filipino firms over foreign ones and as part of a more comprehensive industrial policy.
What, more tax cuts on the rich…?
October 29, 2024
We should be skeptical about this nonsense that tax incentives for companies to establish corporate pension plans will create wealth for Filipino workers.
The fakeness of economic freedom indexes
October 17, 2024
The metrics of “economic freedom” indexes come from a narrow prioritization of so-called market freedoms and property rights that unfortunately doesn’t align with a broader and more inclusive understanding of economic well-being and development.
Non-alignment to benefit from West Philippine Sea
July 10, 2024
COMMENTARY
The Philippines is so desirable for the US and for China because it is a geographically self-standing archipelago with an incomparably strategic location.
DOTr doesn’t want to admit that jeepney fare hikes are coming
January 7, 2024
COMMENTARY
There is much to improve in making public mass transport safer, cleaner and more convenient but ‘modernization’ by making transport profitable for private capital is the wrong direction.
The right size for development?
March 9, 2023
The Marcos Jr administration’s rightsizing program goes in the direction of further weakening the government just when it is so needed to become bigger and better to transform the economy to serve the public interest.
