Unemployment, ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ underemployment, and poverty
The age group that suffers most from unemployment is the young, those in the ages of 15 to 24 years. They account for half of all unemployed workers in the labor force. In actual terms, 16 percent of them are unemployed compared to the average unemployment rate of 10 percent of the labor force.
Unemployment has no welfare significance
If the principal concern of the government and its critics is to relieve the poverty of the vast majority and to pull them into the middle class, then the unemployment rate is actually a bad statistic to focus on.
The 14th month pay proposal: a crazy idea!
Some legislators and labor advocates think that all it takes to improve everybody’s wages is for the government to step in and pass a law that raises pay.
‘Pork’, the Mindanao crisis, and joblessness
While the entire nation is horrified by the pork barrel scandal and the ongoing Mindanao crisis, a recent World Bank report has reminded us of an old, persistent, and “dehumanizing” problem: joblessness.
Unique consequences of the Philippine ‘labor surplus’ story
The relative failure of home policies brought about an accidental success to the Philippine economy through the migration of Filipino workers where capital is more abundant and where wages, as a consequence, are higher.
The Philippine ‘labor surplus’ story
The impressive economic growth of East Asian countries could be explained by the labor surplus model of growth. The phrase “labor surplus” is merely descriptive and has no disapproving or judgmental significance.
‘Time inconsistency’: the Phillips Curve example
We provide the algebra and a panel diagram to attempt to examine the so-called inflation- unemployment (or Phillips curve, or aggregate supply) example. This is used to analyze whether there is indeed “time inconsistency” or “dynamic inconsistency” in the said example.
Dissecting data on employment
What are we to make of the latest employment and unemployment estimates based on the April 2013 Labor Force Survey? What story or stories do the numbers tell? Here is my spin:
May 1 thoughts – raising employment and conquering poverty – China’s example for us
China’s magical growth emerged because its leadership discovered and learned from the “market.” It found the way to use it as the solution to its economic problems. In so doing, it also learned to adopt capitalistic practices to support the market.
May Day: happy or sad day?
Should Filipino workers rejoice or despair? For those who are gainfully employed and have received decent salary increases lately, there is reason to rejoice. But for those who are employed but whose pay have remained unchanged, the underemployed, and the unemployed there is nothing but despair.
Nike in Indonesia — employing more than a hundred thousand workers
Indonesia is the most populous country of ASEAN with 243 million people. This is 2.4 times the Philippines’ population. Nike – the shoe company that produces those famous athletic shoes – set up factories in Indonesia because of the low wages there.
