Tag: consumption

Inflation, interest rates, and foreign exchange: Media must get their economics right

June 30, 2022 The Unpopular Opinion 5 Comments

Local and international media outlets are filled with news that the global economy is suffering. Prices of basic commodities like food and fuel are continuously rising, borrowing money has also been more difficult, and imported products are becoming more expensive. If policies of governments and central banks are executed improperly, an economic recession might spread…

Economy, Money Talks

The Philippines is reverting back to an agrarian economy thanks to COVID-19

August 11, 2020 benign0 6 Comments

Nothing necessarily bad about agrarian societies though these get their bad rep from their association with the Third World and “underdevelopment”. Some “economists” would measure “modernisation” in terms of the proportion of the workforce employed in agriculture. As the thinking goes, a progressive shift in the workforce from farming to manufacturing and services and, therefore,…

Business, Development, Economy

Icarus crashing and burning: Where are the social media “influencers” now?

March 25, 2020 benign0 38 Comments

Back in the day (just weeks ago, before COVID-19 came to be regarded as a force of social disruption to reckon with) the familiar social media “influencer” call to action would echo out into the social media ether on late Friday afternoons: “Weekend starts NOW!” Today that call to action would sound quaint at best,…

Business, Glitz and Glamour, Lifestyle

The REAL solution to inflation lies in the rich and middle classes curbing NON-ESSENTIAL spending

September 8, 2018September 8, 2018 benign0 39 Comments

Much has been said about the poor being unable to escape the simple poverty equation I proposed earlier — that to escape poverty, one merely needs to spend less and make more money. For most Filipinos, the challenge is keeping ahead of inflation. For poor people whose spending is almost entirely confined to just the…

Economy, Lifestyle, Money Talks

Filipinos’ concern over a depreciating peso is due to a pathetic dependence on imports

April 4, 2018 benign0 39 Comments

A depreciating peso wouldn’t really be an issue if Filipinos are able to produce what they consume and sell what they don’t consume to an export market. The trouble is, the Philippines is not a producer of valuable enough stuff and prefer, instead, the lazy option of “producing” and selling low-value raw stuff. I enclosed…

Economy, Money Talks

It is NOT TRUE that the Philippines’ new Tax Reform (TRAIN) bill is “anti-poor”

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 benign0 21 Comments

Every woman and her dog is saying that the recently-implemented Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law is “anti-poor”. They cite how increased taxes on commodities will be an “additional burden” on the poorest Filipinos with increased costs incurred in procuring input into businesses being passed on to customers and “trickling down” to the…

Economy, Money Talks

The Real Reason Why PNoy Does Not Want to Lower Income Tax

September 15, 2015September 16, 2015 Hector Gamboa 22 Comments

So President Noynoy Aquino (PNoy), in response to proposals by some legislators, said that he is not convinced that lowering income tax rates would be beneficial to the country. He claims that: “If we lower income tax rates, revenues will be smaller while the deficit will be wider. The widening deficit will be a negative…

Economy, Government, Politics

Philippine tourism touted as key to ‘inclusive’ growth while decay of key infrastructure continues

May 20, 2014 benign0 13 Comments

Climate change continues to loom as one of the biggest risks to the Philippines’ long-term future. Speaking before the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s ASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change in Legazpi City yesterday, Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III, asserted that the ‘new normal’ it will bring will compromise the long-aspired-for…

Development, Economy, Environment, Government