ARGUING with the economic “experts” about the Philippines is about the same as arguing with my five-year-old son about thunder. I keep telling Adam that the noise from thunder will not hurt him, but his knowledge on the subject is too limited for him to understand the reality. So it is also with many experts who talk about the Philippine economy.

However, I will keep trying with my son and with the local and foreign economists who seem to have no clue about the Philippines.

It is important that we start with some basics about the country that too many of these highly educated individuals must have missed somewhere along the way.

First, the Philippines is one of the most unique places on the planet. All you need to do is look at a world map, which is, of course, not included in any economic textbook.

When you look at the map, you will discover that the Philippines is a country with nearly a hundred million people that is not physically connected to any other country. Wow. What a revelation. I wonder if this fact might have some slight effect on the economy here.

Notice again on the map that you can drive from London, England, to Shanghai, China, a distance of almost 6000 miles by air. Notice, too, that you can also drive from Nome, Alaska, on the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America in Argentina, a distance of over 8000 miles. However, we in the Philippines cannot even drive between the two major population areas of the country, Manila and Cebu.

And, by the way, no comparisons with Indonesia, also an archipelagic nation, are justified. They are a major producer and make most of their money exporting crude oil.

Maybe geography might have played a role in the country’s economic development and also with our current situation. Perhaps all the incredibly smart people that created all the brilliant economic theories based their models on nations that are completely different from the realities we have had to face in the Philippines every day for the last 500 years or so.

What set me off on this topic was an article about how all the foreign currency coming into the country might trigger in the Philippines the dreaded “Dutch disease.”

From investopedia.com and investorwords.com: “The term ‘Dutch disease’ originates from a crisis in the Netherlands in the 1960s. An economic condition that refers to negative consequences arising from large increases to a country’s income. This condition arises when foreign currency inflows cause an increase in the affected country’s currency. This has two main effects: 1. A decrease in the price competitiveness, and thus the exports, of its manufactured goods. 2. An increase in imports. In the long run, both these factors can contribute to manufacturing jobs being moved to lower-cost countries.”

I will not mention the government official who is worried about Dutch disease hitting the Philippines because it is not that person I have an argument with; it is the mindset of comparing the Philippine economy illogically and unreasonably with other nations.

First, if we were smart, we would REDUCE our income dependence on exported manufactured goods. Remember, because we are stuck in the middle of the South China Sea, transportation costs from the Philippines have not been globally competitive since the Manila galleon sailed to Mexico in the 16th and 17th centuries. Second, we can NEVER hope to compete in this area with China: there’s not enough prison labor here, Filipinos like economic and social freedoms, and we do not have the geopolitical power (sorry, no nuclear missiles here) to influence Western trade policy. We do not have the resources or the geography and we never will have those no matter how many economists think we should concentrate on manufacturing.

What are China’s largest exports? Machinery and equipment, plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel, most requiring resources that we do not possess, like coal, iron ore and oil.

Nobody mentioned the Dutch disease in relation to China as it was building nearly $1 trillion of foreign reserves because it is one of those “lower-cost countries” that manufacturing moved into.

Our government and this nation need common-sense economic advice to create practical and effective economic policy. That advice must be founded on a clear and logical understanding of the reality of the Philippines, including strengths and weaknesses. Wishing things were different here so that we could fit some economic textbook model is not going to make the Philippines rich. And the kind of nonsense advice I have been reading from the “experts” lately, if followed, is going to ultimately damage whatever gains this economy has made in the last few years. 

E-mail comments to mangun@email.com.

READING the World Bank’s latest report on East-Asia and the Pacific entitled “Will Resilience Overcome Risk?”, one can’t help but think that the future indeed belongs to the region.

ARGUING with the economic “experts” about the Philippines is about the same as arguing with my five-year-old son about thunder. I keep telling Adam that the noise from thunder will not hurt him, but his knowledge on the subject is too limited for him to understand the reality. So it is also with many experts who talk about the Philippine economy.

THERE just isn’t enough evidence to support the increasingly popular hypothesis that Asian economies are “decoupling” from a slowing US.

Mirror on the wall: Pagcor strives for transparency

THE World Bank (WB) is so much concerned with the lack of transparency among client governments that recently it virtually accused the Philippines of overpricing foreign-financed projects, a charge that is not unusual anymore.

FOR many students, classes in science and math can be a sleep-inducing experience.

Two thousand years after Socrates, the traditional lecture approach where the professor dominates the classroom discussion is still the standard teaching method of science in universities.

If you overindulged in turkey last Thursday, you’re not alone.
Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that, on average, people gain about a pound during the period between Thanksgiving and late February. Most of the increase occurs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. When participants in the study were checked again a year later, they had gained another 1.4 pounds.

LMR. Speaker, I urge, nay, I plead with the leadership of the House not to dignify the Pulido impeachment complaint with any further formal proceeding.