Now, the truth is revealed. According to government statistics, only 19.1 percent of the Philippine population remained in the middle class economic category, down from 22-23% last year. And the slide happened even prior to the global economic crisis. The economic category of the lower middle class and the lower/impoverished class ballooned.
It seems that the economic strategy being employed by this regime is ineffective. Where is the purported economic stimulus package? Where are the billions reportedly forked out by SSS? And where are the alleged small and medium size entreprise assistance from GSIS, Pag-Ibig and the rest?
And despite this slide, there is no noticeable increase in dissent among the middle class. Many are evidently grumbling but the decibel remains so low, it does not register as protests.
This is the same economic situation comparable to 1986, the time when Marcos was ousted from power (review statistics in 1986 and you'll see that the contraction also happened prior to a big event).
Maybe something is terribly wrong, somewhere, somehow. People are silently raging and probably biting their teeth and sucking it all in.
What is evident that somewhere, somehow and in the near future, the increasing economic crunch would surely, and truly, lead to a big explosive event that would force people to go out of their comfort zones and arm themselves with their courage and cause the immediate downfall of this despicable regime. What it is, I doubt it is charter change. Yet, if this regime forces itself further and implement its evil plan to change the constitution, they'll be war. And I'm sure of it. That would be the casus belli that everyone is expecting for a long time. Deep within us however, the fight is actually more economic than political.
Showing posts with label philippine economic situation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philippine economic situation. Show all posts
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Philippines encountering economic crisis
Last week, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo just admitted that we are now in the midst of the worst economic crisis. Despite the alleged increase in the amount of remittances abroad, more and more OFWs are returning home due to job cuts in such countries as the United States, Europe and the Middle East. One of my contacts, a Yemeni, says that Dubai has cut down drastically on construction projects while most of the Middle Eastern countries are now on a standstill.
Singapore still suffers from a recession, same as China and Japan. Bloomberg reports that analysts expect the recession to ease on the third quarter of this year, as America hopes to rev up its economy. Yet, the biggest economy in the world is not showing signs of recovery. The stimulus package has done little to improve the current financial lot of most Americans.
George Soros in his book, " Underwriting Democracy, Encouraging Free Enterprise and Democractic Reform Among The Soviets and in Eastern Europe" published in 1991, predicted the flaws and eventual fall of US economic hegemony. Soros described the US is at a "crossroads". He says that the trouble is " we (US) spend more than we earn, both as a country and as a government." (page 87). Soros earlier on predicted that the problem is abundant spending in the military and government. With the fall of its traditional ideological enemies, the US is left spending more on counter-insurgent and terrorist activities, placing emphasis on maintaining its "self-image" as the only superpower of the world, to the detriment of its economy, slowly grappling on a fast globalizing world.
US President Barack Obama realizes this and downsizes government spending. Yet, it would take time before the US fully sees the impact of "deficient spending". Deficit spending is not the solution, says Soros in another book, its " downsizing military commitments. The budget deficit could be not only reduced but eliminated, and we could recover our economic and financial strength."
As the USA and its trade partners suffer colds, expect the Philippines to do badly as well. Since 2000 when we relied heavily on OFW remittances, the Philippines has seen the better of its boom-bust days. De-prioritizing big and heavy foreign investment capital portfolios and shifting to improving small and medium scale industries is actually doing wonders for the Philippine economy. We have'nt seen the "crash" that other Asian markets suffered because most funds here are invested in long-term, low risk instruments.
However, low consumer confidence could prove disastrous for these SME's, especially since most are into services, food and apparel. Cut downs on spending could worsen our situation and it is most appropriate to encourage consumers to buy, buy, buy products instead of saving up. This is the challenge of government---how to improve the retail and services environment so that people spend their money instead of just parking their monies in banks.
Singapore still suffers from a recession, same as China and Japan. Bloomberg reports that analysts expect the recession to ease on the third quarter of this year, as America hopes to rev up its economy. Yet, the biggest economy in the world is not showing signs of recovery. The stimulus package has done little to improve the current financial lot of most Americans.
George Soros in his book, " Underwriting Democracy, Encouraging Free Enterprise and Democractic Reform Among The Soviets and in Eastern Europe" published in 1991, predicted the flaws and eventual fall of US economic hegemony. Soros described the US is at a "crossroads". He says that the trouble is " we (US) spend more than we earn, both as a country and as a government." (page 87). Soros earlier on predicted that the problem is abundant spending in the military and government. With the fall of its traditional ideological enemies, the US is left spending more on counter-insurgent and terrorist activities, placing emphasis on maintaining its "self-image" as the only superpower of the world, to the detriment of its economy, slowly grappling on a fast globalizing world.
US President Barack Obama realizes this and downsizes government spending. Yet, it would take time before the US fully sees the impact of "deficient spending". Deficit spending is not the solution, says Soros in another book, its " downsizing military commitments. The budget deficit could be not only reduced but eliminated, and we could recover our economic and financial strength."
As the USA and its trade partners suffer colds, expect the Philippines to do badly as well. Since 2000 when we relied heavily on OFW remittances, the Philippines has seen the better of its boom-bust days. De-prioritizing big and heavy foreign investment capital portfolios and shifting to improving small and medium scale industries is actually doing wonders for the Philippine economy. We have'nt seen the "crash" that other Asian markets suffered because most funds here are invested in long-term, low risk instruments.
However, low consumer confidence could prove disastrous for these SME's, especially since most are into services, food and apparel. Cut downs on spending could worsen our situation and it is most appropriate to encourage consumers to buy, buy, buy products instead of saving up. This is the challenge of government---how to improve the retail and services environment so that people spend their money instead of just parking their monies in banks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)