Category: Economy

Lessons from Greece: Can Third World nations really afford ‘democratic’ governments?

July 15, 2015 benign0 7 Comments

You can almost hear Robin Leach snootily addressing his audience in the popular 1980s TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous when you read this: See that demoractic government? You can’t afford it. By hook and, literally, by crook a while back, Greece joined the European Union and replaced the drachma with the euro…

Development, Economy, Government, Politics

Crisis in Greece: Would you lend money to a person who can’t pay?

July 13, 2015 benign0 32 Comments

Lots of debate around who is the victim and who is the bad guy in Europe nowadays thanks to the financial crisis gripping Greece and, as a consequence, the rest of the European Union. It seems to point to the underlying fundamental difference between the way creditors and debtors think which is not too different…

Development, Economy, Government

We must learn from Greece and stop relying on the government to save us

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 Ilda 23 Comments

A friend of mine who just came back from a three-week holiday in Greece confirmed what we have been reading in the news about how a lot of the banks in the country have closed and there was a long queue for people who wanted to get cash from the few automated teller machines that…

Development, Economy

The Greek financial crisis is really a simple issue

July 7, 2015 benign0 62 Comments

The financial crisis gripping Greece is really not that complicated. Greece opted to join the Eurozone and replace its local currency, the drachma, with the euro in 2001. Its government then started tapping the Eurozone financial market taking out euro-denominated loans as part of its normal course of doing business. However, underneath all that, Greece’s…

Development, Economy

Road Trains: Another Band-Aid Solution for the Country’s Skull Fracture

June 30, 2015June 30, 2015 Grimwald 32 Comments

Well, there’s no denying the fact that traffic has become one of the major problems this country faces. If one were to consider the roads of cities as the blood vessels of the Philippine anatomy, one can say that the Philippines is screwed quite royally. So no President Aquino, congested roads in major cities are…

Development, Economy, Government, Technology

Speech delivered by Vice President Jejomar Binay after quitting PNoy Cabinet

June 25, 2015 benign0 19 Comments

[The following speech was delivered in Tagalog by Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay at the Coconut Palace, Manila, Philippines today and, here, translated into English by the author of this post.] My countrymen: Now is the new beginning of our fight against poverty. I resigned from the Cabinet because I cannot accept the way my…

Crime, Development, Economy, Education, Government, Politics

Why Filipinos deserve to be ruled by dynasties

June 23, 2015 benign0 14 Comments

A lot of Filipinos enjoy the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. But the strangest thing: They fail to understand why political dynasties exist in their own country. The fact that people can relate to the characters, stories, and conflicts in GoT is because the plot appeals to the deepest recesses of human nature and…

Development, Economy, Government, Society

Risk management is erring on the side of preparation rather than on the side of celebration

June 22, 2015 benign0 5 Comments

Is information that we get from politicians, celebrities, and business people reliable? Think about it. These are people who’s job it is to tell people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Politicians want potential voters to think that they have a bright future that they will, presumably, be led…

Development, Economy, Politics