For three successive quarters now, production and incomes have fallen from their year-ago levels, and by all indications, this year's final quarter will see yet another similar contraction. People had hoped that with the worst lockdowns over, the third quarter (Q3) numbers could have been better than the still deep contraction (-11.5 percent) the Philippine Statistics Authority reported. The economy is down, and the simple reason is people not spending money as they normally do, leading to much lower demand for our goods and services-the demand that leads producers to produce in the first place. To better appreciate what's happening, let's take a closer look at our economy's demand side-that is, those doing the spending in the economy. There are four groups who buy goods and services in any economy: (1) consumers or households; (2) producers (farms and firms), who must buy goods and services in order to operate or raise capacity to produce even more; (3) government, which buys various goods and services in order to operate, respond to people's needs, and build and repair public infrastructure; and (4) foreigners, who buy our products when we export to their countries, or when they come and visit us.