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CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: Think local, act gobal?

January 24, 2020

The global economy, which is characterized by an integration of market economies, is facing fragmentation," observes the government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in its "Understanding the New Globalization" report. It further notes that disenchantment with globalization has led many large countries to turn inward. But this seeming tendency is undermining the world's ability to provide for global public goods, or counteract global public "bads," now so essential in the contemporary world that is the product of the "old" globalization and rapid technological change. What are global public goods, and what are examples of them? We must first distinguish between "public goods" and regular or "private" goods. Two attributes are critical in this distinction: nonrivalness and nonexcludability. A good is "rival" when those consuming it prevent others from doing so. That is, consumers are "rivals" in consuming the same specific good or service. When you buy and enjoy a hamburger or a massage, no one else can consume that same hamburger or massage. But for nonrival goods and services-like street lighting, a nice scenery or national defense-one can enjoy them without keeping others from simultaneously enjoying them as well.

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: Trust and social cohesion

January 21, 2020

"Much of the economic backwardness in the world can be explained by the lack of mutual confidence," once wrote the late Nobel laureate economist Kenneth Arrow. This would imply that countries where the level of trust is low are likely to have low economic performance. This is in fact upheld by data for 100 countries compiled by the World Values Survey (WVS), a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. Among the values the group examines is trust, which they have found to be correlated with cultural, social and economic dimensions of human well-being.

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: The new globalization

January 20, 2020

As we enter a new year and a new decade, is our country equipped and prepared for the challenges of a rapidly transforming world under a new and different phase of globalization now transpiring? Last year's World Economic Forum dubbed it Globalization 4.0, or the fourth wave of globalization, noting peculiar circumstances and trends surrounding it quite unlike the previous waves the world has seen.

SAMIRA GUTOC

A Girl from Marawi: We are one in crisis

January 19, 2020

As a volunteer in humanitarian responses for calamities such as Sendong and Yolanda, as well as conflicts such as Zamboanga and Marawi, I see the valuable need for stakeholder collaboration in disaster response. We can never be ready without learning lessons from the past.

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: Taal's fury and the economy

January 17, 2020

So early in the year, we are beset with a major natural disaster yet again. Two major typhoons just ruined the Christmas season for large numbers of our fellow Filipinos, and now this-and the disaster isn't even over. A major explosive eruption is still anticipated from Mt. Taal as of this writing, and based on the nature of the expected "magmatic" versus the recent "phreatic" or steam-induced eruption, it could well be that the worst is yet to come. What do all this hold for Filipinos in general?

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: Widening and narrowing gaps

January 14, 2020

Good news: Inequality among countries has improved, as poor countries have managed to narrow their gap with the rich ones in recent decades. Bad news: Income inequality within individual countries has generally worsened. Good news (for us): The Philippines has been an exception to this, with evidence showing income gaps to have narrowed since 2000. Poverty incidence has also lately declined faster than it has in decades, especially after it actually increased in the last.

SAMIRA GUTOC

A Girl from Marawi: Why War is a Waste

January 12, 2020

When I was in Saudi Arabia as a child, I experienced the Gulf War. We at the Philippine School were taught drills on falling flat on floors in case there would be aerial bombings. It was natural for Dad who worked at the Consulate to see our house teemed with OFW visitors . It was common to see some of them sleep over. One vivid memory in our small jam-packed sala is tiptoeing over one sleeping body to another.

EDILBERTO C. DE JESUS

Business Matters: Babies and bathwater

January 11, 2020

How did water concessionaires unjustly exploit the onerous provisions the Duterte administration discovered in their agreements? The original contracts, crafted by the Ramos administration, had been in force for over two decades, overseen by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), a government regulatory agency. Also unclear is why their extension by the Arroyo administration was deemed "irregular" enough to deserve cancellation.

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: Changing economies

January 10, 2020

The world's economies, whether large or small, have been changing, and with it, the nature of trade has changed dramatically as well. In its latest Economic Policy Monitor, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) focuses on the ongoing "new globalization," aka Globalization 4.0, and notes changing economic structures to be one of its key features.

CIELITO F. HABITO

No Free Lunch: A war-driven economy?

January 07, 2020

Why has US President Donald Trump raised the likelihood of another major war? Is it to divert attention from his impeachment, as already being guessed by many? Is it to help boost the US economy, now threatened by the unfolding consequences of his trade war with China? It need not be an either-or matter, as both could well have been in mind, among other motivations, as they assessed the wider implications of the assassination of Iran's top general that Trump readily owned up to.