China’s stock market collapse: contagion?
As I write, I witness the continuation of world stock market turbulence and uncertainty that began in Shanghai since June this year and continues in New York to this minute. The last two days have been much more turbulent on both ends of these financial centers.
Stalled by an unpredictable, uncompetitive tax regime
Ever wonder why the Philippines has attracted the least foreign direct investments into the country, compared to its ASEAN-5 neighbors? The Philippines has the highest corporate income tax rate, one of the highest personal income tax rates, and an unpredictable way of honoring VAT refund.
Government employees no longer the downtrodden
It surprises my students when I state that the unemployed generally are less poor than their employed counterparts (or, stated differently, the poor cannot afford to be unemployed), and that government employees are not among the poor.
Investing in an uncertain and slower world
There is a small group of wealthy Filipinos who are in search of investment opportunities. They might find an economy that is expanding, albeit at a slower rate, a stock market that’s less vibrant than before, and a real estate market that’s losing steam. In brief, potential investors may have to be more cautious, selective,...
More and more like a ‘trapo’
I may help to get the basic facts correct in the appreciation of the issues surrounding the controversy involving Manny Pacquiao and the Bureau of Internal Revenue with regard to the taxes he paid (or did not). The following is a background and a time line of events
The Great Deodorizer
The Aquino administration is using the sad plight of the people of Bohol and Cebu as a way of deodorizing the much-criticized and legally flawed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). What remains of the P7.5-billion Calamity Fund and the P3.7-billion Quick Response Funds embedded in the budgets of seven agencies? There is no need to augment...
