How to win an election
IT is probably a good thing that we have the triumphs of Philippine Olympic athletes to occupy our…
The elites are different
American author F. Scott Fitzgerald of The Great Gatsby fame is said to have had a conversation with the equally…
It’s my business
A couple of days ago, a comment was posted on Twitter. “If you are stocking up on booze…
China at war with the world and itself
This is the way the event was reported. July 16, 1971: “Yesterday, President Nixon shocked the world by…
Pre-SONA 2021
AS I write this, State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2021 is a few hours in the future.…
Flying on the stock market
IF you want to understand how the stock market works, think back to the good old days when…
The Philippines and electric vehicles
This is the time we live in. In a recent opinion column, a long litany of professionally researched…
The Fitch negative outlook
Investopedia: “A credit rating is a quantified assessment of the creditworthiness of a borrower in general terms or…
Cuba Libre and other ‘drinks’
“This tropical refresher is a cocktail that typically contains cola, lime juice, rum, and a garnish of lime.”…
Covid payback time
WE may be at the beginning of the end. “Singapore could become one of the first countries to…
Might is ‘right’
IT is a good thing that the islands—artificial and otherwise—in the South China/West Philippine Sea are basically “uninhabited.”…
There is unlimited pizza
A party size pizza is placed in the middle of the table. Do you subscribe to the idea…
Pandemic transformation
About a month ago, my good friend Mr. Salvador “Buddy” Villasis was appointed as Executive Director of Cebu…
The Omega
The timid that prefers to avoid risk, the snowflakes who melt at the first sign of risk, and…
US inflation gone wild
The seller has the obligation to sell at the highest price possible. The buyer has the obligation to…
US inflation
“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a…
Ultimate eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without…
The global minimum corporate tax
The significant year for Marikina was in 1887 when shoemaking started to flourish. Back in the good old…
US/China: Playing games
United States foreign policy has been a bit schizophrenic since its founding. In his Farewell Address—published in 1796—George…
Incredible abundance
IF you studied history, humanity has always been on the brink of “doomsday.” Maybe there is something in…
The free market works
The journey started in 1761 when Ebenezer Kinnersley demonstrated heating a wire to incandescence and ended when Thomas…
Free or controlled markets
Regardless of the terms used—particularly the “isms”: capitalism, socialism and communism—there are only two economic choices. An “economy”…
Simple Marxism
You cannot blame Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels for getting some things wrong when they developed the concepts…
‘Green colonialism’
The Covid-19 pandemic has dominated the news in 2020 to the exclusion of many other important events. As…
Flying pig
Last month I wrote, “For me though, the most astounding event of the 21st century is happening right…
The coming cash tsunami
Regardless of what you are being told, the Philippine Stock Exchange is not going to react meaningfully or…
Let’s all get rich
IT has been a great 15 months if you are rich or want to be. News item: “A…
‘Fighting inflation’
Inflation is like the zombie apocalypse. No one really knows where it came from. But government is obviously…
Crisis manipulation
American political commentator and television host Bill Maher had some interesting things to say on his show last…
Covid for government control
The last 12 months has proven one thing conclusively. If hostile aliens ever invade Earth, it will be…
The problem with ‘Bitcoin’
Once again, for approximately the 11th time in the past three years: Cryptocurrency is not money. Bitcoin (BTC) is…
Dangerous persons in dangerous times
These are the characteristics of the most dangerous persons on the planet. And by persons, I include governments,…
Greed is good
Maybe one of the reasons you are not rich—or richer—is because you are not greedy or greedy enough.…
Money isn’t everything if . . .
It is easy for me to be convinced that there is a conspiracy to keep people poor, or…
‘Fortune favors the bold’
With justifiable fear running strongly it is a tragedy that the public has a difficult time getting unbiased…
Dangerous persons in dangerous times
These are the characteristics of the most dangerous persons on the planet. And by persons, I include governments,…
Greed is good
Maybe one of the reasons you are not rich—or richer—is because you are not greedy or greedy enough.…
Money isn’t everything if . . .
It is easy for me to be convinced that there is a conspiracy to keep people poor, or…
‘Fortune favors the bold’
With justifiable fear running strongly it is a tragedy that the public has a difficult time getting unbiased…
Stranger than fiction in the 21st century
English poet and politician Lord Byron in his 1823 satirical poem Don Juan writes, “Tis strange—but true; for…
Globalism and nationalism: The oppositions have it all wrong
Because the press and pundits have created them to push their own political agendas, the terms “globalism” and…
Watch for unintended consequences
“The law of unintended consequences is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated…
Solutions to stop the Covid spread
I have a burning desire to go on a ballistic rant about the fact that the Philippines was,…
The perfect stock market computer
There is so much easily available information that almost anyone can become somewhat of an expert about the…
Predictions 2021
American baseball legend Casey Stengel once said, “Never make predictions, especially about the future.” Stengel also said, “You…
Success 2021
We have been fed the myth that “economists” are unbiased number crunchers who develop theories based on the…
Beer: Building the Philippine economy
WE need to turn our attention to something important—beer. Humans and beer have been around for about 9,000…
Governments: Protecting you and your money
About 6,000 years ago, humans were starting to use gold for decorative purposes. The metal can be melted…
Only at the intermission
To understand what I am about to say, you need to understand a little about me. Simply, I…
Enjoy the ride
This year has already been marked by two significant financial events: the GameStop (GME) and Bitcoin price explosions.…
Moving up the economic ladder
IT is funny to hear people—usually wealthy celebrities—talk about leaving the country if this or that person is…
Money madness
“Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” This is one of those quotes that…
Be like Joseph
I admit that I have not attended any seminars given by those teaching “financial literacy.” From the outlines…
The next circus sideshow
When the circus came to town, it was the midway sideshows that were most exciting. Carnival barkers would…
OK Boomer
All the shrieking over the recent events on the New York Stock Exchange over the trading in GameStop…
Pump, dump, pump New York style
“Short selling is a fairly simple concept. An investor borrows a stock, sells the stock, and then buys…
PHL: Mango not apple
I am increasingly convinced that the worst legacy of the American occupation of the Philippines was the apple—the…
The reality of government debt
Being a trial attorney—or the much classier British term “barrister”—and being on the university debate team are similar.…
The Eloi and the Morlocks
In his 1895 novella, The Time Machine, H. G. Wells takes us to a world far into the…
Why the West seems to be falling apart
I just had my first haircut in a year. Actually, it was my first haircut in 20 years…
Hungry people will be angry people
Some three decades ago there was a man who worked as a gardener in an exclusive village in…
More dangerous than Covid
The Philippines must be feeling at least a little better healthwise since the media—social and traditional—and the press…
My plan for success
For many decades I have built my wealth and protected my business and family by proposing different scenarios…
Predictions for the year 2020
You may have noticed that those who make a living out of predicting the future are relatively silent…
2020: ‘That’s a wrap’
IN the early days of the movie industry, at the end of shooting a scene, the director would…
Bill Gates lives, Dick dies
The amount of inaccurate information that “We the People” have had to swim through this year is staggering.…
Covid 2020 bad; 2021?
“Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for Covid-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52…
Intellectually dishonest liars
IS it too much to ask that when presumably educated and intelligent people express a viewpoint, that it…
More Covid confusion
You would have to be blind or willfully ignoring all that is going on to believe that everything…
Grouchy and old
Let it be publicly noted that I am not a “grouchy old man.” Well, actually I am. But…
The 2021 train wreck
You know that old joke about the light at the end of the tunnel? It is an oncoming…
Never try to eat the bear or bull
Sometime in the future there will be commentary about the early 21st century, say the year 2020. It…
Unintended consequences
There are some laws that you need to learn to remain healthy, wealthy, and wise. My number one…
US election: Does it matter?
SO why is the global television sports industry—pre-Covid, of course—worth up to $100 billion a year? For the…
US foreign policy
IT is always best to make nice-nice to an incoming US president regardless of who it is or…
The Electoral College
The most relevant fact about the “USA” is how the United States of America came to be. If…
Understanding the US system
Citizens of one country are not actually supposed to know all that much about another country even if…
Stock market yin and yang
Fire and water. Light and dark. Chaos and order. Yin and yang. Along with certain product logos—McDonald’s, Nike,…
Hoping for a Merry Christmas
The next few days are initially going to determine the course of the United States for the next…
China: A nearly flat tire?
A country’s national anthem is part of its national statement. However, one of the oldest national anthems, which…
The continuing economic chaos
“The period of Political Chaos began in October 2015. The period of Economic Chaos will begin in January…
Connect the dots
Considering the fact that I write four pieces publishedevery week, I am starting to worry what might be…
Truth is poetry
My two favorite films of the 21st century—Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short—will never appear on…
The ‘Covidian Cult’
IT is unfortunate but it is time to “go there.” Back when I was climbing up the mountain…
WHO knows–or not
Unlike some other UN organizations—such as the UN Human Rights Commission, with major human-rights abusers as members, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, with Unicef admitting failures amid child-abuse allegations—WHO has succeeded because it was trusted and strived to be nonpolitical.
PSE: Still sleeping
In the historical record of the Philippine Stock Exchange, October 6, 2020 will now be known as “Telco…
Covid-19: ‘Massive societal shifts’
The Covid-19 pandemic has created a wonderful opportunity for politicians and pundits. Local politicians—state and city in the…
It’s time for business
Covid-19 has rewritten the rules of everyday life. I have friends that suffered from the nightmare and after-effects…
It’s only about the money flow
There have been some 33,306,022 confirmed Covid cases worldwide with some 1 million deaths. That is a mortality…
Useless criticism
Some of us are clinophiles, people who love reclining and lying in bed. A person who is obsessed…
Expecting the boom?
Naturally, we can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst. We should have had some…
Intellectual Yet Idiot
When you are a child you may often be asked, “What do you want to be when you…
Winning the future, Covid or not
The projection models on the course of the Covid-19 pandemic have been about as inaccurate as those used…
Are Filipinos satisfied with the government?
The family, the basic collective unit of human society, has as its purpose to provide protection and provision…
Bed too hard; stock too expensive
Alchemy dates back some 2,000 years and was practiced throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. “Alchemists attempted to purify,…
Covid quarantine madness
AS I get older, I find myself being annoyed—and annoying other people—more often. My wife says I am…
No more ‘Sugar Daddy’
Here we are at the first of September with situations—plural—that were unimaginable when we celebrated New Year’s Day…
Pricing stocks
The farmer wants the price of wheat high enough so that he can make a profit. Yet he…
Man bites dog
During the “Golden Age” of newspapers, there was a “Golden Rule” for story placement on the front page.…
Making sense of the peso
Measured by value, it is the largest business in the world and the biggest in the Philippines. But…