Features
Making upper middle-income status matter
Pebrero 20, 2025
Understanding what upper middle-income status really means easily clarifies that it is in many respects just a fantasy.
Higpit-sinturon despite within-target inflation
Pebrero 7, 2025
The Marcos Jr adminstration was happy that inflation was within target for the year. Yet, the incomes of a lot of Filipinos are still insufficient to buy their basic needs.
The bright side of the economy in 2025
Enero 7, 2025
Public awareness and demands for a better budget are essentially demands for an economic framework that prioritizes the welfare of the many over the interests of the few. This is a potentially powerful foundation for better economic policymaking in 2025 and beyond.
PhilHealth Zero Subsidy: Reflection of Government Neglect
Disyembre 23, 2024
Abruptly defunding the insurance agency will not address the growing problems of health financing, especially without concrete steps from the government to resolve them.
BBM for health? Not really
Disyembre 17, 2024
The lack of essential health facilities reflects the broader deficiencies in the country’s healthcare infrastructure and its inability to provide adequate care to millions of Filipinos, particularly the poor.
2025 BBM: Budget Badly Made
Disyembre 17, 2024
The government easily decides on austerity for the poor, yet just as easily decides to give huge budgets for pork and patronage, infrastructure for the rich, and even sacred debt service.
Rate expectations: Rethinking PH credit ratings
Disyembre 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.
The Long Game of Development (3)
Disyembre 8, 2024
We can’t neglect the most important strategy of democratic mass mobilizations to shift the balance of power and policies towards the majority.
The Long Game of Development (2)
Disyembre 8, 2024
From the 18th century and the first industrial revolution, how much have great leaps in technologies really contributed to fixing social underdevelopment? The expanding poverty and vulnerability of billions of people gives an answer.
