Not In Our Lifetime

[Mr Lee]

This is truly a sad statement to be made by a government head about the people of the Philippines and their culture. I guess it takes a government official to know just how corrupt and unrepairable other government officials, and the system are.MANILA, Philippines — Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) admitted on Tuesday that graft and corruption in the agency cannot be eliminated during the Aquino administration and “perhaps not even in our lifetime.”The complete story HERE

[ekimswish]

I'm reading a book at the moment which attempts to show that it's not necessarily the corruption and overpopulation in the Philippines which has led to the horrible economic performance, but rather because of neo-liberal trade policies which stripped them of a lot of their ability to protect their industries and jobs. Now that I think of it, maybe it's that whole free trade movement that's stripped America of all of its factory jobs. Anyways... I'm no economonomonist, so I'll stay out of it. Just something of interest from a book.

[FlyAway]

I'm reading a book at the moment which attempts to show that it's not necessarily the corruption and overpopulation in the Philippines which has led to the horrible economic performance, but rather because of neo-liberal trade policies which stripped them of a lot of their ability to protect their industries and jobs. Now that I think of it, maybe it's that whole free trade movement that's stripped America of all of its factory jobs. Anyways... I'm no economonomonist, so I'll stay out of it. Just something of interest from a book.

Liberal trade policies? I am curious what book this is you are referring to. From what I notice, many South East Asian manufactured goods are cheaper to buy in the U.S. than in Philippines. Plus the quality control is better. High tariffs are not part of free trade.

[Tom in Texas]

Liberal trade policies? I am curious what book this is you are referring to. From what I notice, many South East Asian manufactured goods are cheaper to buy in the U.S. than in Philippines. Plus the quality control is better. High tariffs are not part of free trade.

"Liberal" trade policy is sometimes just "conservative" code name for "screw the workers, increase corporate profits" - through international outsourcing incentives, exchange rate manipulation, tax policy advantages, or any other available government facilitated means. Tom in Texas

[FlyAway]

Liberal trade policies? I am curious what book this is you are referring to. From what I notice, many South East Asian manufactured goods are cheaper to buy in the U.S. than in Philippines. Plus the quality control is better. High tariffs are not part of free trade.

"Liberal" trade policy is sometimes just "conservative" code name for "screw the workers, increase corporate profits" - through international outsourcing incentives, exchange rate manipulation, tax policy advantages, or any other available government facilitated means. Tom in Texas

Now that sounds more like it. Thanks for the clarification. :rolleyes:

[ekimswish]

I'm reading a book at the moment which attempts to show that it's not necessarily the corruption and overpopulation in the Philippines which has led to the horrible economic performance, but rather because of neo-liberal trade policies which stripped them of a lot of their ability to protect their industries and jobs. Now that I think of it, maybe it's that whole free trade movement that's stripped America of all of its factory jobs. Anyways... I'm no economonomonist, so I'll stay out of it. Just something of interest from a book.

Liberal trade policies? I am curious what book this is you are referring to. From what I notice, many South East Asian manufactured goods are cheaper to buy in the U.S. than in Philippines. Plus the quality control is better. High tariffs are not part of free trade.

It's called "The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis In The Philippines", written by Walden Bello.

[No name]

I'm reading a book at the moment which attempts to show that it's not necessarily the corruption and overpopulation in the Philippines which has led to the horrible economic performance, but rather because of neo-liberal trade policies which stripped them of a lot of their ability to protect their industries and jobs. Now that I think of it, maybe it's that whole free trade movement that's stripped America of all of its factory jobs. Anyways... I'm no economonomonist, so I'll stay out of it. Just something of interest from a book.

Yeah, communism is a great way to keep jobs at home.

[ekimswish]

I'm reading a book at the moment which attempts to show that it's not necessarily the corruption and overpopulation in the Philippines which has led to the horrible economic performance, but rather because of neo-liberal trade policies which stripped them of a lot of their ability to protect their industries and jobs. Now that I think of it, maybe it's that whole free trade movement that's stripped America of all of its factory jobs. Anyways... I'm no economonomonist, so I'll stay out of it. Just something of interest from a book.

Yeah, communism is a great way to keep jobs at home.

Jesus, if it's not extreme liberalism, it's extreme communism. Wake up. Life isn't so black and white. The Cold War is over in most of the world. There're a lot of good points in the book, most of which I'm unqualified to make, but nowhere does it mention communism. There are a lot of people in the world opposed to free trade, mostly because it ties the hands of the local government to make policies in favor of its own people. So much for sovereignty. And if you haven't noticed, the US economy is hardly doing great. Ever seen the debt clock? Edited November 4, 2010 by ekimswish

[No name]

Hey Roy, you should write an essay on why there is corruption. "no choice" hahaOh someone is gonna beat me up for that.....There is almost always a choice, that is true.I've been a victim at the hands o f customs when I was made to pay duties on items that had no duties due on them. So now, I wont use PhilPost if I send something to myself from outside the country. Within BI there are two main areas of corruption. Balikbayan visas are one area. I don't see how the officials can resist! with the pay being so low. The folks dealing in human trafficking though. I don't see how someone can do that to someone else. Much of the time those Filipino caught up in this are truly victims. In the worst cases, the person is lied too. They really think they are going to get a nice job and they have their passports taken from them and are treated like cattle. Recently I read a story about 8 boxers from Cebu that went to Australia and ended up as "house boys" in slave like living conditions. I don't know if some BIR official was bribed, probably not in this case. There is a choice though, recently I read another story where a BI officer was busted. She told another BI officer that she had been told to get into a certain officers line. That made the BI officer suspicious and that led to a closer look and the corrupt BI officer was fired. They were looking at charges. Don't know what happened. Follow up stories are lacking in the Philippine's press.You can't fix this problem without increasing wages. Increasing wages might make it very hard for me to live here.

[Old55]

Thanks for the book title. To be honest I would have a difficult time keeping an open mind as to the books motives. Not to go negative but let me suggest a book that includes a small bit on Philippines.Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Not a happy ending seen for RP. 

It's called "The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis In The Philippines", written by Walden Bello.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Mr. Lee
install quote box