PSA’s assessment: a failing grade for Ph
Are we doing well or not? If you want to make up your mind based on hard evidence rather than press releases, false news, etc., the best place to go is to the PSA itself—its website, in the section called StatDev.
Governance failure across the board
Get real Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11 August 2018 Undeniable fact: Philippine economic growth is slowing down. Growth rates last year were on the order of 6.7 percent. For the first half of 2018, it is 6.3 percent (6.6 percent in Q1 and 6.0 in Q2). Now, the target for 2018 under President Duterte’s Philippine...
Visit and learn from the PSA website
What is the real score with respect to the Duterte administration’s performance so far? His supporters give him excellent marks, his opponents give him failing marks. So what is the Reader to conclude?
Real target growth rate for 2017 is 7-8 percent
Whoa! Reader, let’s not get carried away by the news that our economy grew by 6.9 percent in the third quarter of the year, as shown by the most recent National Income Accounts. And why not? you may ask. Isn’t that great?
External and new internal pressures on the BOP?
The Philippine balance of payments is healthy. But in recent months, there have been signs of weakening.
Starting point for new administration
How do we evaluate the performance of the Aquino administration in as objective a manner as possible? If we depend on the opposition’s evaluation, we get all the negatives. If we depend on the administration’s evaluation, we are sure to get only the positives.
I have no excuse but my commentaries are intact
Professor Noel de Dios, my colleague at the UP School of Economics, correctly pointed out some errors in my article, “We’re losing the war against unemployment.” I have no excuse for the obvious misreading of some labor numbers. However, my commentaries are intact.
Incredible but true: two of three underemployed workers are not paid
The twin problem of joblessness and poverty will define President Benigno S. C. Aquino III’s presidency. After five years in office, he has failed to put a dent on the unemployment and underemployment problem; in fact, one can make a strong case that it has worsened under his watch.
How to judge this administration
President Aquino is delivering his last State of the Nation Address on Monday. Does he get a passing mark or a failing mark for his (and his administration’s) performance?
Dear Ben…
Your column raised some good points. Unfortunately, the piece was marred by errors in some of the statistics and computations you use. I'm sorry, but I think we need to correct them for pedagogical reasons.
Growth targets unchanged: are government economic managers in denial?
The Philippine economy is without doubt losing steam. The three major international institutions -- the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) -- have cut downward their economic forecasts for the Philippines in 2014 and 2015.
Slower growth: Let’s see who’s to blame
President Aquino III and his men have another problem to worry about: not only is the Philippine economy showing signs of fatigue but also that government spending has done poorly in perking up the economy. In the second quarter of 2014, government final consumption expenditures were flat while public construction was down by 12.9%.
