What ‘democracy’ is
Winston Churchill said in 1947 that “many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in…
‘Bad moon rising’
Humans may be much “smarter” today, but they may also have been much “wiser” in the past. Much…
The window to public thought
Joseph Overton was a senior vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and is known for…
Stagflation strategies
There are three major components to an economy. These are “economic growth” or the amount of increase or…
This is not the end
These are dark times. We have the two forces of the pandemic and politics pulling us into the…
The great painkiller
Two years ago on January 8, 2020, the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index was at 7,736. We are…
Dalio and Roubini
My grandmother was seven years old when New York City had a population of 100,000 horses producing around…
Better be worth it
The Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index ended 2021 virtually unchanged, down 17 points from the 2020 close. The…
You are what you read
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a 17th century French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of The Physiology of Taste,…
Exciting times ahead
“Globalization has created this interlocking fragility. At no time in the history of the universe has the…
You can’t fool the market
AN iconic television commercial from the 1970s shows Mother Nature in a gown of white, adorned with a…
The coming Panic Chaos
Political Chaos followed by Economic Chaos followed by Panic Chaos. The first two are inevitable. The third depends…
Stock market snowflakes
Medilines Distributors Inc. (MEDIC) listed its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The offering of 825,000,000…
‘The Summit for Democracy’
The apologists for China and its government have been out in full force these past couple of weeks.…
The candidates: Not looking forward
Near the end of September, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the following: “The estimated long-run…
‘Filconomics’
Here are a few quotations that I particularly like. “The curious mind embraces science; the gifted and sensitive,…
‘Hugs, not bullets’
Every nation struggles with the problem of illegal drug use. The related crime issues, such as robberies and…
Let’s go Brandon
The last five years has seen an increasing global trend on what I can only describe as a…
What does China know that we don’t
US President Richard Nixon called it “the week that changed the world.” From February 21 to 28, 1972,…
COP-OUT 26 and the energy crisis
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-26) is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. Note this is the…
Some money thoughts
The intensity of the 2022 presidential campaign is amazing, breathtaking even, considering the voting is six months away.…
Global outlook: Not good
There is a lot of madness in the world today. I call your attention to Turkey. The country…
What would the next president do?
The past days have seen several “political pundits” addressing the 2022 election framed in terms of WWJD? (What…
Everybody knows
Binge listening to the music of Leonard Cohen on a Sunday afternoon is good for both mind and…
Start thinking ahead now
The leader of a family has the duty and responsibility to provide two things to the members of…
May you live in interesting times
Even having lived the past 19 months with the sword of death and economic destruction hanging over us,…
The Water Tiger
The year 2022 is set to be the year of the Water Tiger. From Karma Weather: “The New…
Another cycle is coming
IN mid-2015, I started writing about the cyclical turning point that would lead to “political chaos” in 2016.…
Governments ‘hate’ poverty
My grandfather was born in 1886. At that time 72 percent of humanity lived in “extreme poverty.” In…
Productive value and speculative value
Around 1560, an Italian couple, the Bernacottis, made the first blueprint for the modern, wood-encased pencil. Their concept…
China’s problem is not our problem?
Now that we are approaching the official start of the 2022 election season, it appears that the main…
‘Orcs’ and Evergrande
Americans, in general, and some US politicians, in particular, are the most ignorant people on planet Earth when…
The PSE going forward
IT has been easy not to talk about the Philippine stock market for months. In 2021, the range…
What really changed since 9/11
The world stopped on a morning in New York City 20 years ago. It does not matter if…
The great Covid reset
Even a casual understanding of history would determine that the catastrophe of World War I was the result…
How strange is it?
Filipinos had a flair for the dramatic long before there was even a Philippines. Ferdinand Magellan’s singular achievement…
Perception and reality
Perception: “A way of understanding or interpreting something.” Reality: “The world as it actually exists.” “There are two…
Breaking our ‘resilience’
IT is obviously a “generational” thing. The famous 2017 study in the United Kingdom found that most people…
The Grind
The concept is so much a fundamental part of nature that it is found in almost all scientific…
Dynamic stability
Which of the two scenarios is better? You teach your child the moral lesson by encouraging and supporting…
The great game Asia style
Although different in magnitude by a factor of a million, what happened in Afghanistan has similarities to what…
Current event thoughts
There are many exciting things going on, spanning the globe from the earthquake in Haiti to the takeover…
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.…