National interest versus world welfare
There is a saying. “All politics is local.” Hence, national policies are an expression of local policies. Last week’s topic about the Amazon fires and the danger to world environment is an indication of local politics coming to clash with world welfare issues.
Rainforests and the Amazon: economic development and the environment
The news of the week for environment watchers is the extensive Amazon fires. Burning forest lands in Brazil flashed across TV and has raised alarmed commentaries about global warming.
Restoring Manila Bay is like unclogging Manila’s traffic
The restoration of Manila Bay’s pristine quality the way it was before, or how we want it to be, is a long-term project. It will require large private and public investment in resources.
The uncleaning of Manila Bay — historical background
The recent public outcry and demand for the cleanup of Manila Bay is the result of decades of continued deterioration of the environmental health of Metro Manila and its bay since after the Second World War.
‘Laudato Si,’ urban land abuse and ills
Pope Francis’ newest encyclical, “Laudato Si,” is an overarching document that touches on just about everything that affects the environment and is affected by it. The ills of urban life don’t escape its sweep. He posits that we can have neither nature without humanity nor humanity without nature.
Calendars, our native birds (common, resident, migratory, rare and threatened) and our environment
As we are still enjoying the holidays, I deviate from very serious topics and discuss a pleasurable subject. Given the proper frame of mind, it is also integral to our social and cultural development as a nation.
Poverty, reconstruction, and development in Eastern Visayas after Yolanda
After Yolanda, the poor have become desperately poorer along the typhoon.
Six months after Yolanda — Tacloban, Guiyan, and Eastern Visayas
The growth of the Philippine economy on a year-to-year basis fell in the first quarter. The downturn in growth is not unexpected. The economic devastation brought by Super-Typhoon Yolanda was a major factor.
Disappointing GDP figures: Don’t blame Yolanda
The weaker-than-expected first-quarter GDP growth of 5.7% disappointed a lot of people. It is significantly lower than the official government forecast of 6.5% to 7.5% and the consensus private sector forecast of 6.3%. Government authorities were quick to blame super typhoon Yolanda as the culprit of the economic slowdown. Seriously?
Rising from Haiyan’s ruins
Recovering from the tragedy wrought by Typhoon Haiyan, the most potent typhoon ever to hit land in planet earth’s recorded history, is evidently no mean task. Difficult to estimate is the economic cost; virtually incalculable is the human cost, including lost human capital going to economic cost.
Shocks to Philippine households: Incidence, idiosyncrasy and impact
[With Carlos Antonio Tan, Jr.] Using a nationally representative sample of households, we assess the overall incidence of different shocks, the extent to which they simultaneously affect households in the same area, and their impact.
Financing follows reconstruction plan
he Aquino administration should not turn hope into despair. It shouldn’t squander this opportunity to provide the survivors of the calamities a new beginning.
