Anti-Cory Propaganda Youtube Video

Someone forwarded me this YouTube video. Judging by the sophistication of this video (graphics, technology used, and all), either it was made by a very political multimedia professional, or someone out to demolish the Noynoy administration hired an expensive multimedia professional to do this. Let us watch the video with a critical mind, and an appreciative eye for cool animation. Enjoy!

This video represents a long-running line of argumentation blaming the EDSA system for the economic and social quagmires we are in, while positioning the Marcosian authoritarian government of the 70s  as the one that put Philippines on the global map of competitiveness. This argumentation has many flaws, as both Marcos and Aquino had their share in pushing the Philippines towards the path of maldevelopment. In any case, one cannot simply dismiss the criticisms of the pro-Marcos camp, especially with Bongbong's assertion that we could have been a Singapore had EDSA I never happened (with Aquino III answering that we could have been a Libya otherwise) having appeal on those who witnessed the economic wrath and misery of the neoliberal era.

Setting Fair Oil Prices for the Filipino People (by Rep. Walden Bello)

Just this Monday, Rep. Walden Bello, a progressive Filipino solon, world-renowned economist and the originator of the "deglobalization" movement, recently spoke in halls of Congress on the need to set fair oil prices and increase income in a time of inflation. A series of urgent demands for relief, Bello's proposals perfectly complements Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Transport's (PMT) strategic and medium-term "Proposals to End the Recurring Oil Crisis" (http://bit.ly/endoilcrisis).

This is a must-read for policy-makers who are considering a lasting but feasible urgent solution on the oil inflation problem. Enjoy!

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Setting Fair Oil Prices for the Filipino People
Privilege Speech of Rep. Walden Bello, May 16, 2011

A year after its election, the administration can point to the high economic growth rate, particularly in agriculture, as one of its achievements.

However, perhaps more than economic growth, people prize economic stability, and the way things are going right now, there is a sense of things slipping out of control. The main challenge citizens want the administration to meet is, far and away, the economy.  And among the economic issues, inflation receives the highest priority as a problem that must be addressed by the government in a recent Pulse Asia survey, with some 53 per cent of respondents citing it.

Rep. Walden Bello

Jan-jan’s Abuse and the Middle Class Disconnect

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. What Willie Revillame made Jan-jan do in an episode of his popular primetime show is wrong. It is very probable that the humiliation and psychological torture Jan-jan experienced under the crowd of Willing Willie may leave an indelible imprint of a hostile society in his young psyche. But even if Friedrich Nietzsche is right, that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (and I do hope than Jan-jan would come out of this a stronger person), it should have been a decision an adult Jan-jan would have to make, not Revillame. Revillame should be dealt with according to our laws.

The dozens of articles I read written by various "concerned citizens" through facebook, blogs, and columns on the topic had a unanimous verdict on the Revillame’s show. That in itself is not interesting. What is interesting is that they were puzzled by the seeming indifferent stance by Jan-jan’s parents. Why did they let their son do that demeaning dance? Are they bad parents? The parents are equally puzzled by the reaction of these "concerned citizens". “What’s the big deal?” - they seem to be thinking.

People Power and Prosperity

, I recently gave a presentation at the Forum on People Power and Poverty Reduction (Celebrating the Silver Anniversary of EDSA 1) organized last February 23, 2011 at the Institute of Social Order (ISO), Ateneo de Manila University. This was organized by several NGOs in coordination with the Cabinet Cluster on Poverty Reduction (which is composed of secretaries of DSWD, NAPC, among departments). I gave a presentation on economic alternatives (after the one by Freedom from Debt Coalition President Ric Reyes on a critique of the "EDSA Economy" - check it out here).

I began by saying that maybe, all government interventions should go beyond the meager dream of poverty reduction and the proverbial "providing food for the table". Our generation (EDSA Babies - Generation Y) ought to have dreams more ambitious than that. I then proposed that the theme of an economic alternative should be, instead of poverty reduction, prosperity - the creation of spiraling wealth that will increase incomes, employment and productivity. We should go beyond palliative economics and instead address the roots of poverty.

It is with this thought in mind that I delivered my presentation:

Towards a Modern and Prosperous Philippines on Prezi

(If it doesn't appear in your browser, try clicking the Read More link below)

The presentation was also to promote FDC's HANEP 2020 - an alternative national economic development program that focuses on creating an equitable and just Philippine society by promoting asset reform, ecologically-sound industrialization, and technological leapfrogging. The document is in its very early stages, and is currently being refined through FDC's internal processes and consultation with sectors. You can view the draft at the end of this blog entry (a Scribd document).

Progress of Civilization: from BBC's Hans Rosling

Happy 2011 everyone!

As we celebrate the coming year with hope and optimism for change and progress, let us look at the video clip below to remind us, despite the apparent global convulsion due to the  flawed economic paradigm of neoliberalism, how much the world has progressed across centuries. The presentation by Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician and public speaker, can serve as inspiration of how much innovation and technological change can push nations from the brink of poverty towards modernity.

The trajectory of growth (and how they sort of "converge") reminds me of the Solow–Swan model (also known as the exogenous growth model and the neoclassical growth model) - a model of a long-run economic growth. The model was developed independently by Robert Solow and T. Swan from the earlier  Harrod-Domar model used to explain an economy's growth rate in terms of the level of saving and productivity of capital.

Debt as Modern Slavery (Part 1 of 3)

Part I – Currency Wars, Chimerican Crisis, and the Debt-based Monetary System

By James Matthew B. Miraflor

Presented to the Southeast Asia Regional Socialism Conference of Partido Lakas ng Masa, together with Transform Asia Gender and Labor Institute, November 27, 2010, College of Social Work and Development (CSWCD), University of the Philippines Diliman

Revised on November 29 and 30, 2010

Warm revolutionary greetings to all of our comrades here. I was tasked to discuss on the debt and the financial crisis. As we know, this is a very difficult topic to talk about, as it is related to the most complicated inventions in human history – banking, monetary system, fiscal policy, and investment practices, among others. No one can pretend that the whole thing is already understood completely, for even its inventors have often been labeled as not knowing what they are doing.

Thus, to make things simpler, it is good to begin with a discussion of the current updates in the global financial and monetary practice. Right now, the United States is conducting what it calls as “quantitative easing” (QE). Simply put, this is simply printing dollars out of nowhere. The Federal Reserve already printed $600 billion to buy securities from the US Treasury. The printing press has now become, to paraphrase Ben Bernanke, the secret weapon of the American economy. This devalues dollar vis-à-vis other currencies, making exports to the US more expensive and favoring domestic producers’ access to US market.

Seen as a form of subtle protectionism and as “revenge” over China’s supposedly “undervalued” currency, it had the effect of depreciating the value of dollar worldwide. For export-oriented economies of the world, this may spell ruination, as it means that American exports will be relatively cheaper. This may have the effect of import-substitution in the United States as cheaper American goods replace goods exported by the manufacturing giants like China and Germany to the US market. In the Philippines, this had the effect of shrinking the relative value of the dollars migrant workers send back home, and compromising Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies which earn in dollars.

During the conference. University of the Philippines Diliman - CSWCD.

But beyond QE’s immediate effects lie a more structural cause. It is this cause, which will later be called as debt-based monetary system, that I will attempt to discuss in this paper. Knowing what the systemic impulse behind the production of money is brings us closer to a good explanation on the current phase of the finance capitalist system the whole world is now in. It also allows us to understand alternatives which we may have to implement as a global community if we are to avert financial disaster and transition to socialist alternatives.