OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It was Mark Amand who argued that rejection doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough. He said that the other person who rejected us actually failed to appreciate what we can bring to the table. In fact, the Platonic philosopher Atticus would even say “I’ve never met a...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Today is the last meeting of the Monetary Board of the BSP for the year 2023. Early this week, we wrote in GlobalSource Partners In Brief that the BSP must be at a crossroads on what to do next, whether to pause, or lift its policy rate by another 25 basis points. We...
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OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It could have been conveniently ignored if the source was not the Philippines’ central monetary authority, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). But no less than the BSP itself in its latest November 2023 Monetary Policy Report projects the gross domestic product (GDP)...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Our annual family retreat in Italy culminated in the “eternal city” of Rome, and as we learned from high school, the city of seven hills. The capital of both Italy and the Vatican, Rome is known for having more fountains than any other city in the world. We were...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT (Last of two parts) This country missed many opportunities in the past. It could have elected president the late Manila Mayor Arsenio H. Lacson, he who established the Manila Zoo, the nation’s first underpass, Boys Town, Ospital ng Maynila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT No, former Senator Jose “Pepe” W Diokno is not missing. He passed on in 1987 at the age of 65. If he were living today, he would have been 101, having been born in 1922. He is not missing but we miss him and his legacy. His life revolved around the defense of...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT We concluded last week our two-part series on engaging in global value chains (GVCs) as a possible way out of lower middle-income trap with the warning that there are risks surrounding it. If only to stress the significant impact of this route to breaking through the income...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Last week, we concluded the first part of this column by arguing that we are hamstrung by poor governance and weak institutions in our bid to escape the lower middle-income trap. This is not to say that other factors are unimportant and they include demographics, industrial...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT If some members of Congress continue to collaborate in undermining the positive role of the national budget in promoting economic growth, we should not be surprised if, in the next five years, we would still be struggling in breaking out of the so-called lower middle-income...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT In a way, our book 1, Not on Our Watch: Martial Law Really Happened, We Were There, published in 2012, may be likened to Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography. Written with interruptions at various points in his colorful life as a writer, publisher, inventor, diplomat,...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Yesterday, the broadsheets reported the order of the President to use all available legal tools “to control the prices of rice and ensure that the staple is readily available to the poor” following a sectoral meeting at the Malacañang. Radio Television Malacañang...
