The financial crisis gripping Greece is really not that complicated. Greece opted to join the Eurozone and replace its local currency, the drachma, with the euro in 2001. Its government then started tapping the Eurozone financial market taking out euro-denominated loans as part of its normal course of doing business.
However, underneath all that, Greece’s fiscal position was not sound (i.e. the size of its liabilities were perilously bigger than resources on hand to fund them), and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) brought that underlying weakness to the fore. While stronger economies eventually weathered that storm (thanks to their stash of cash reserves), Greece came out of it severely insolvent (financialese for being in really bad shape) — much so that it required a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank. But not quite able to use those loans to get back on its feet, Greece took out another bailout in 2012. Coming out of that and the previous were creditors’ conditions piled upon one another — draconian austerity measures that progressively crushed the life out of its limping economy.
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So, since 2012, Greece had been teetering under the weight of a couple hundred billion euros in loans that started coming due this year. Meanwhile, ordinary Greeks suffered for years under the austerity measures thanks to the massive unemployment precipitated by the drying up of available capital and drastic drops in personal income due to reductions in salaries implemented by struggling businesses and public enterprises. And over the last several months, to that injury was added the insult of ordinary Greeks getting slapped restrictions on access to their own personal funds kept in Greece’s banks to prevent bank runs.
No surprises then that Greeks voted to default on the loans in a public referendum held this week. They were hopping mad and had recently put a far-left-leaning government in power. It was a perfect storm for a vote to stop paying these loans to prevail.
Left to its devices, Greece will likely have to revert to its old currency, the drachma, and prop up confidence in it on its own. But without a vault full of gold bullion to back it, the value of the drachma really rests upon the perceived value in the Greek government’s assurance to its public that its new currency is real money. That’s gonna be a tall order for a country that limped along economically over the last 14 years (not counting the years before 2001 when it successfully masked its underlying financial rot).
So much for economic integration. Creating bigger markets only benefits those who profit from bigger markets. But for the rest of the lot who merely piggyback on other people’s capital, it comes down to the really simple definition of poverty:
A habitual entering into commitments one is inherently incapable of honouring.
It’s the universal poverty equation that consistently successfully illustrates why poverty is, regardless of all the noise surrounding it, essentially a simple human condition.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
While the circumstances that led to their financial dire differ, I can’t help but compare Greece to Germany’s Weimar Republic after WW1. Kinda ironic that the former now owes the latter.
Interesting on the gold quote. Modern “Keynesian” economists refuse to agree it should have any monetary value… While happy to purchase it for their central-bank printed paper.
The oversimplification of the Greek ‘tragedy’ here ignores the fact that the ‘private’ debts of bankers were shifted onto the ‘public’ balance sheet in a ‘sleight-of-hand’ move that is criminal in nature.Much like the bailout in Ireland where the Irish population volunteered to enslave itself with debts that were not their own, but were created by bad bets made by criminal bankster’s, the ‘private’ debts of the banker’s were made into a ‘public’ debt obligation.A severe act of idiocy on the part of the Irish population this same scheme has been rejected by Greece, and rightfully so.
The only other country that has stood up to this savagery perpetrated by the bankster’s is tiny little Iceland that has thrown the criminal bankster’s in jail ,recouped what little remained of their losses and has adopted their own currency and is now ,finally, on the road to recovery.
The USA had the same ‘private’ debts famously put onto the ‘public’ debt column in the now infamous ‘too-big-to-fail’ (AKA:’too-big-to-jail’) speech,and the subsequent bailing out of the banks via ‘shotgun to the head’ threats to crash the economy had the $1 trillion bailout not been hoisted onto the ‘public’ balance sheet. However, ‘The Fed’ has the luxury of the printing press and ‘global reserve currency’ status to luxuriate such preposterous economic policy as “Quantative Easing’ pts. 1-4, something the Greeks could only hope for.
A simple problem? Not really.
also ,something that can not be ignored is the corruption ingrained in the Greek economy, through rampant tax-evasion, for decades that slowly drained the country dry, then its admittance into the E.U. (which should never have been allowed due to the Greek economy/banks being insolvent/bankrupt at the time of admittance into the E.U.,against E.U. by-laws) then pick up the story in the above comment……
Same principle. Greek society lacks not only the financial resources but the legal and law enforcement chops to play in the Eurozone. An entering into a commitment one is inherently incapable of honouring.
It’s simple, really.
the situation itself is sinister, insidious and tantamount, now, to blackmail. the entire issue, looked at from a distance, could be seen as a masque to re-unify Europe in slavery to the 4th Reich. HA,if u want to call that simple, be my guest.Looking back it seems like a complicated way of not firing a shot in order to take over an entire continent.(How many people in the PIGS countries would have voted to join the E.U. had they known what now would be the consequences? i.e: loss of sovereignty through common currency, austerity, bankruptcy, massive unemployment in Southern Europe of over 25% and amongst younger citizens over 50% etc etc….
But , who, anywhere, had the foresight to see what was taking place (there were a few but they remained silent,didn’t they?WHY? HHHMMMM…)? What was cloaked to appear as a supposed bid to unify a continent with all its glorious benefits ,was instead a feudal system of debt enslavement to a single member of that Union. If that sounds simple to you…….great!…really.
Well, as I said in the article, “Creating bigger markets only benefits those who profit from bigger markets.”
So those that have the brains, power, and resources to mount the effort to create those markets will do just that. And those that are content to simply watch while things are done to them will do just that as well.
See? It really is simple.
Our point is that the Greek people were sold a faulty bill of goods, not even a bill of goods BUT debts that were not theirs and in the process have had to part with the countries public assets and suffer severe cutbacks in pensions services et al. The shit is complicated.(Imagine paying for a car and house that you neither drive nor live in,but still have to pay for,eh? all due to a series of events that looked above board, but weren’t and as a result you cant afford gas for the car or electricity for the house you neither drive nor live in.) HOLY SHIT!! Just like the Irish, except now…..the Greeks have had enough and are backing out.
The only country that had the balls to stand up to the Troika was tiny little Iceland. Iceland threw the scumbag Bankster’s in jail, which is where they belong. They went to the President of the countries home and were going to string him up A-LA Mussolini style but he begged them not to do it and then he did his job.
What has happened in the E.U. is economic warfare, the people have been crushed into poverty,while the 1% has raked in billions of Euro’s and is laughing heartily at the serf’s.(kinda like the Philippines)
BUT, every Dog has his day.(and BTW, the part ‘watch while …done to them..’, when you figure out how to do battle with Corporations,besides a boycott that may or may not work, that have paid everyone necessary to pry open borders, legislate its problems away etc etc….. you will do mankind a favor and broadcast it loudly for all to hear. As it is now more than ever that democracy has lost its voice and elections are next to meaningless and the ‘Corporatocracy’ is now in charge.
The principle also works on a smaller scale:
Owner of capital: Come work for me, I’ll pay you a salary.
Employee: Wow thanks! I’m so happy!
One laughs all the way to the bank. The other gets his salary.
I have to agree. The Greeks cheated their way to the Euro. They presented books that did not meet standards of entering the Euro including budget deficit, debt, inflation. In reality when Greece joined the euro zone, their budget deficit was higher than what was presented and required by the Euro amongst its members.
In lay mans terms, the Greeks cooked their books just to be part of an elite group.
Have you ever seen a product marked “Made in Greece” before? Well there lies your fundamental problem. How can one run with the horses if it’s a limping rat? The Philippines has a lot to learn from the current Greek debacle! So common R.P., enough of the dreamland fantasy talk on Philippine pride – show me the money! Show me a product that we can proudly line up with Samsung, Apple and Philips on Walmart’s shelf. “Zero” is a great catchword in today’s calorie and health conscious customers, but not in the world of techno titans and olympic-class athletes. (BTW, getting zero in Diving is not something to give a high-five about). And while we’re busy churning up pictures in facebook, gloating over how far more exciting our lives are than our neighbor – Vietnam just rolled out another techo-packed robot (http://tosy.com/). So again – show me the money!
the Philippines could harness its resources, add a manufacturing component and it could be a world leader, and yet…..it doesn’t. Simply relying on ‘call center’ crap jobs and OFW remittances to keep the economy hobbling along, when it could reboot, re-tool and make a difference on a global scale. Look at what Japan did, tiny little Japan….and then they ruined it with outsourcing.
Don’t rely on the government or politicians. The Chinese immigrants to this country made it big quietly doing business and have succeeded. If they can do it, why can’t the ordinary Juan do it too. If you want to start a manufacturing industry you can do it. No one’s stopping you. The Phil needs visionary leaders like you Ray. Go for it. Be the Steve Jobs of the Phil.
>> “If you want to start a manufacturing industry you can do it. No one’s stopping you.”
Nobody would let you be the Steve Jobs of the Phil.
First the BOC would prevent you importing the equipment and supplies you need (you don’t have this and that meaningless bit of paper so you have to pay P0000’s in “fines” and “charges” to get your container released).
Then the BIR would slap arbitrary tax bills on you earnings (not your profits – earnings; the Pinoy mind can’t calculate assets minus liabilities, that’s advanced math).
Then you’d get a nearby “well-connected” neighbor insanely jealous of your non-existent success, who would send some corrupt PNP guy or local thug to come and teach you to know your place.
Even if you manage to surmount all those obstacles, the cost of doing it would be so outrageous that your product would be uncompetitive on the world market.
The PH government WANTS people to be poor and stupid. It’s a universal constant that rulers with an IQ below 90 think that’s the best way to make money out of the populace. Smarter rulers know it’s better to let people earn more, then you can skin them for more. But, again, the Filipino is just not that good at math.
Marius, you are so right! If only the Philippine government gets the f!@#$% out of the way of the market and stops dipping its filthy hands into the coffers of private enterprises. Philippine Government . . .You’re Fired!
(http://getrealphilippines.com/2012/05/philippine-government-youre-fired/)
Sure Vigilante! (BTW, you’re not related to Duterte are you?) And while you’re at it (firing our gov’t); the rest of us will try to fire up the populace on the next revolution – The RISE of the INCORRUPTIBLES – soon coming to a city near you…
Starring: Incorruptible candidate #1 … does anyone have a clue?
“I will declare a revolutionary government. I will close congress and sell all government corporations that are connected with money making.” – mayor duterte
If you borrow/owe more than you earn/can earn; you will soon be bankrupt.
Greece was like Germany , after the Armistice, after World War I. They burned their German currency to heat their houses.
It’s the same situation in our country. Our earnings are too dependent on OFW slaves.
It is an economy built on sand…
Added to the thievery of public funds. The financing of the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda by Aquino… We will be the next Greece. Tighten your belts, the Philippine economic meltdown is coming.
the Greek situation is so far from being simply borrowing more than one earns.
if the Philippines could somehow look within and create a manufacturing base it could rival what Japan did after WW2, but with the world’s highest electricity rates and banks that are scared of their own shadows….ain’t gonna happen.
Most of the Filipino Brains , have migrated to foreign countries, as OFWs. Only the YellowTards, and their similar species, are the ones left…Besides, the Science and Technology curriculum in schools are outdated and obsolete.
The minds of Filipinos are focused on politics…politics…more politics. You can get rich easily by being a politician. So, why bother to be anything else..
Actually the Greek dilemma is very simple. Greece already had a lot of debt and they thought that loaning to pay loans was a good idea. They thought that joining EU and getting a dip in Germany’s credit card could solve their problems. It could have, if the government didn’t wasted it on short term welfare state luxuries and instead invested it on business. But still, they got stuck in the loan-to-pay-loan vortex and are dying an insolvent death.
A debt is a money owed…it can be sweetened to a word like : “Swap”, to mask the word: Debt. Any debt has to be paid for, in any way. If you cannot pay it; you have to file for bankruptcy. Nations are like people…
It is like the term: “Informal Settlers”, for Squatters. The word: “Informal Settlers” is sweetened to mask: the filth, the grime, the hopelessness, the crimes,the below human conditions of living, the poverty, etc… of people living as Squatters. Politicians like to cover this situation in our country. Since, these people are the sources of “captive” block votes, during election time. And by the way, these Squatters are placed by the same politicians on Pedestals, during election time…glorifying them…
All money printed in the USA & E.U. today is DEBT.I will not explain it, it is way to complicated to discuss here, BUT,believe it or not…..its true…..debt debt debt…all debt.
they can ask help from Zeus. lol!
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. Poverty is the worst form of violence. An empty stomach is not a good political adviser. It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.
There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher. There is no Them. There are only facets of Us.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.
we can use the same tactics of the “elites” against us and evolve it to help the poor..prosperous…the unconscious…awakened…the uneducated…smart in all aspects and hopeless…hopeful…we just need to be organized…like those “bastards” then the Philippines can be “Tomorrowland” for all of us and create an impact or should I say…Let’s start a Big Bang!
Ebola Ray hits the mark with his succinct analysis, it coincides well with an email from a former workmate in Australia, part of which follows:
This is what capitalism is really about.
From the beginning, Merkel and the EU have operated from the position that
because Greece took on debt, Greece now needs to pay it back. That position
assumed — bizarrely, in hindsight — that debt only works one way: if you
lend someone money, then they pay it back.
But that is NOT how free markets work.
Debt is not a guarantee of future payments in full. Rather, it is a risk
that creditors take, in hopes of maybe being paid tomorrow.
The key word there is “risk.”
If you’re willing to take the risk, you’ll get a premium — in the form of
interest.
But the downside of that risk is that you lose your money. And Greece just
called Germany’s bluff.
The IMF loaned Greece 1.5 billion euros, due back in June, and Greece isn’t
paying it back. Greece has another 3.5 billion due to the ECB in July
, and that looks really doubtful right now.
This is how capitalism works. The fact that it took a democratically
elected government whose own offices are adorned with posters of Lenin,
Engels and Guevara
to teach this lesson to Germany is astonishing.
More astonishing still is that Merkel et al knew Greece could not pay back
this debt before these negotiations started. The IMF’s own assessment of
Greek debt ,
published just a few days ago, states: “Coming on top of the very high
existing debt, these new financing needs render the debt dynamics
unsustainable …”
“Unsustainable”! Germany’s own bankers knew Greece couldn’t pay this back.
And yet Merkel persisted.
Take a look at Greek GDP. In order to pay back debt, you have to have a
growing economy. That’s a basic law of economics. It’s how credit cards
work. It’s how mortgages work. And it is how sovereign/central bank debt
works. But Greece’s economy was never in a position to benefit from debt,
because it has been shrinking for years.
That’s the thing then. When you default, there are consequences. Greece simply needs to come up with the strategy and the means to not only deal with those consequences but to succeed despite them.
If it pulls it off (goes rogue, then comes out a winner), that’s gonna make for an interesting story! Revert back to the drachma and pull itself up by the bootstraps — it means getting back the ability to create and grow capital indigenously to convince people its drachma is worth something.
Simple, right?
Indeed, that is something I have been beating the drum about in the case of the Philippines. It has lost the ability to create capital domestically and is, instead, addicted to foreign capital and credit — something I wrote about in my 2013 article Loser mentality: Filipinos’ 500-year dependence on foreign investment…
The “globalised” world economy really belongs to countries like Germany, Japan, the US, the UK, and, now China — societies that actually known how to make stuff and capitalise its assets. In comparison, loser countries like the Philippines don’t capitalise its resources — it chops them down, extracts them from the ground, or deploys them as “OFWs” to the above countries who then transform these inputs into their industries into stuff Filpino consumers salivate over.
Japan: it’s primary resource for generating capital is its people.
Phil: primary resource is also it’s people, except that a vast majority are retards and most of the brilliant have jumped ship for greener pastures. How can any capital be generated from that?
Our mistake is that we made the Phil so bad a hell hole to live in that the only resort for many is to get out. Like a rotting cadaver that needs blood transfusion to have some semblance of life, we need those ofw remittances and foreign investments to keep consumer spending up. There is no real core industry in the Phil – just the manufacture of babies mainly. Will there be a happy ending?
Were going to make that happy ending zaxx..its our duty…for the sake of the nation..and for future generations…The people you say? Then lets charged up there minds and sharpen their skills. The things that we lack as a people..we will teach them, inspire them, and motivate them..but it all starts w/ an action…Are you ready guys?!!!!!
correcting myself…Let’s charge up their minds!!!
That’s the spirit Apprentice! But before we charge them up we have to seal the holes of this sinking ship. 2 biggest holes are dishonesty and inefficiency. Plug these and you’ll see the country start to go somewhere. OFWs might even consider coming back.
I’ll venture into what you said about dishonesty and inefficiency and all its causes in all aspects of humanity..and come up w/ bright solutions and evolve it further and add those to my plans…I mean the future plans of the soon and upcoming “organization” of enlightened minds who will not be just drivers of ideas but efficient in their ways and actions 😉 I hope all of GRP and you zaxx and I can meet face to face along w/ the inspired and motivated…together…we shall awaken this nation…the people!
Put a face on your gravatar Apprentice (gravatar.com). That way I can recognize you more easily here in GRP. Go for it – Let’s turn this country upside-down!
Contrary to what you perceive, the Philippines have a larger manufacturing industry than its agricultural industry. Our manufacturing is 3x greater than agriculture industry.
Nor is it a sign having a certain population be OFWs as country being unsustainable. There are certain first world countries who have a higher or equal to percentage of work force overseas than Philippines
The OFWs contribute to about roughly around 10% to our economy with around 10% of our workforce. Yes, they do help but they aren’t huge as you perceive it to be.
The entire ‘Tragedy’ is sooo complicated that it really takes a long look at the dealings pre-2009, the public assets that were targeted (Intn’l Airport landing tarriffs,the state lottery proceeds, the Greek ‘Riviera’ real estate. Just to name a few and all MONEY-MAKING PUBLIC ASSETS handed over to the Bankster’s) for permanent confiscation, etc etc etc…..due to an ‘Odious’ debt. OH NO NO NO NO !!!!
But thank you Mr. Walter,but it is only the surface I scratched.
But why were the Greeks in that situation in the first place? Because their government mismanaged and they voted for wrong government to lead them in the Euro, which happens to be a leftist government who values social services more than an improved economy.
You cannot just hand out your assets to the banks without you agreeing nor you needing to give those assets because you mismanaged stuff previously right?
@ D.T., U don’t get it ? oh that is really too bad, but its just that the shifting of a ‘privte debt’ onto the ‘public debt’ and the theft of public assets to stisy ‘odious’ debts is a fuckin outrage. If you cant see this,its just to bad.
here’s the link to the full story from Business Insiders:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/greece-referendum-result-and-the-meaning-of-debt-2015-7
it seems to me that Greeks will be having the last laugh, and the joke is on the EU!
This problem of the Greeks were created by the Greeks. even with the previous bailout which was hundred of billions of euro, the Greeks couldn’t solve their economic woes. The Greek economy cannot support the amount of social service they are giving to their people. So instead of using the bailout for economic improvement they used it for their lifestyle.
The simplest analogy I could think of a person getting 30k php salary but wants to live a lifestyle of 100k per month person. so that person decides to borrow money. Instead of using it for education, finding a better job, the money was used for iPads, HDTV, cars which were used for luxury. Then, that person after 5 years found out is in debt again, which couldn’t pay the bills of that persons lifestyle including the debt, so the solution for that person is borrow even more money and demand and make a tantrum over the one who is lending you money.
Indeed. Remind you of anywhere else? 🙂
@ Deep T, the Greeks had very little to do with it, that is the problem.
I have to disagree. This a Greek created problem. Majority of the countries have debts including rich first world nations. The main difference is the Greeks cannot pay their own debts nor balance their financial capacity since they are spending beyond their means.
If you are country that was inserted more than 200b usd in 2010, that money won’t vanish unless you spend it the wrong way. If the Greeks spent that money on The right investments rather handouts and social services in the last 5 years, they won’t be in this problem in the first place.
the last 3 years ahd nothing to do with it. It is such an engineered robbery, by the 1%. think what you like. explaining it for an eternity is not in the cards for us.
@ebola Ray, you have quite imagination that has nothing to do with the Greeks fault, they voted for their leaders. Their leaders fiscally mismanaged their house. Nothing to do with the Greeks? So in short if one government does not put their house in order and their people voted for them, it has nothing to do with them?
In a way we are in agreement since this mismanagement has been happening before the Greeks borrowed so much money within the past 3 years or even before they joined the Euro.
The financial crisis is a gift by the Greeks unto themselves. They must have believed that “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” saying doesn’t supposed to include themselves.
In contrast to the dire economic situation in Greece, the Philippines (at least for the time being) has recently (March 2013) achieved “investment grade” for the very first time in its entire economic history.
(http://www.rappler.com/business/economy-watch/24936-a-first-investment-grade-rating-for-ph)
The challenge, of course, is for our national government team to keep improving the sovereign credit rating of the Philippines until we are a “triple A” or “AAA” credit like Canada, Australia and Singapore. That is still a long time coming, if ever at all, given the thoroughly irresponsible spending habits of our public officials. What is clear today is that the Philippine economy, inside and outside the Philippines (i.e., the Overseas Filipino Workers’ or OFW remittances), is generating enough (and being overtaxed, of course) to support the parasitic government and to service the national debt. What is also clear in the horizon is a fat, inefficient and corrupt government at virtually every level that is poised to abuse this recent economic distinction by ratcheting up the demand of (a) more socialist programs (i.e., unsustainable subsidies to the poor folks who need to be neutered to stop shitting babies like goats and rabbits) and (b) a more obese, inefficient and corrupt government. So, while P-noy’s team appears to have the supply-side of the credit rating issue under control, they have only begun to address the specter of the undisciplined demand-side run amuck, which could easily lead the Philippine economy down the path of Greece.
Beware the politician with the slogan of “free college education for all” or “affordable healthcare or health insurance for all” and the like. Beware the increasing pork barrel allocations in the Lower and Upper House of the Legislature, as well as at the Presidency (i.e., PDAF, DAP or whatever else it is called or labeled). Now that it’s cheaper to borrow money, there is more pork to go around and spend freely. Beware the government bureaucracy that hires more bureaucratic leeches, now that there are more spoils from the taxpayers to spread. Any of these irresponsible and unsustainable practices in government will intensify under a false sense of economic well-being and perceived abundance in the context of the recent investment grade sovereign credit rating–and we’ll come crashing down the economic death spiral just as we are starting our ascent.
Not surprisingly, ERAP, the convicted plunderer who has neither the legal (“legitimized” only by the gaping lapses of the COMELEC and the Supreme Court) nor the moral basis to assume the post of the mayor of the City of Manila, is leading the way towards fiscal imprudence and downright abuse. Shortly after assuming the office of the mayor, he triggered the economic death spiral of the City of Manila by signing an ordinance that will raise real estate taxes by as much as three hundred and fifty percent (350%) as well as increase business permit fees–well beyond the rates of comparably more progressive cities in Metro Manila.
(http://getrealphilippines.com/2013/12/the-parasites-of-the-city-of-manila/)
He is squeezing the last ounce of blood from property owners and business enterprises, and throwing the ever-diminishing hard-earned livelihood of the middle-class into a bottomless cesspool that enables him to throw crumbs at his squatter (non-tax generating) constituency and to re-energize and perpetuate his own corruption addiction and that of the deeply entrenched bureaucratic kleptocracy known as Manila City Hall.
Now is the perfect time to clamp down on the demand-side, among other things. Let us precisely bankrupt the City of Manila to force City Hall to restructure, to streamline and to rehabilitate itself from its unsustainable addiction to excessive taxation. Bankruptcy means Manila City Hall will have to live within the economic dictates of the taxpayers–so much for the bogus public hearings that didn’t bother with the objections of the taxpayers. Bankruptcy will compel City Hall to focus on reducing the demand side of government versus increasing the supply side of government (i.e., increasing taxes and business permit fees). For starters, no more borrowing, no more fixers, no more contractuals and reduce City Hall’s headcount by fifty percent (50%)—less heads means less criminals and, yes, less electricity bills to pay. Retire City Hall employees without separation pay, particularly if the City of Manila is bankrupt. These bastards should not be given a centavo of separation pay for all these years of wholesale corruption. No more subsidies to squatters other than a bus ticket to their home province, so they can return home, till some land and be truly productive (other than making more malnourished babies like goats and rabbits). Streamline the administrative and procurement processes and impose/enforce punitive measures against erring officials—zero tolerance on corruption. Restructure the legitimate debt of the City of Manila, negotiate more favourable terms, including substantial “haircuts” and refrain from paying those government banks supporting City Hall’s debt addiction—it’s time to sever these unholy alliances. Reduce or eliminate the fire department and provide incentives to develop a private volunteer fire brigade in each barangay. No more junkets and so forth and so on.
Abolish the thoroughly useless Senate. At least P200 million in pork barrel per Senator or a total ofP4.8 billion a year would be saved. Reduce the current 212 congressional districts to a maximum of 50 (i.e., 1 for every two million constituents), and scrap the party-list representatives (what a scam). At least P70 million in pork barrel per Congressman or a total of P11.34 billion a year would be saved. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t take a genius to see that many government agencies should not exist at all and all the other government agencies can be streamlined by at least 30% (50% in the case of Manila City Hall) and finally get government employees to earn a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. Criminalize squatting and informal settlers, and send them off to their respective provinces to till the land. Reinstate capital punishment. It should be as public and gruesome as possible to make it an effective deterrent. Introduce caning (like in Singapore) and make it also as public and as gruesome as possible. Quit pussyfooting on the enforcement of the Reproductive Healthcare Law. Free college education to the only child and tax (I mean tax punitively) the parents of every child in excess of the first–at least until such time the population is under control. Then, maybe then, the Philippine economy does not evolve from investment grade into the economy of Greece today.
To summarize..were going to take control of the government through not paying taxes…and and streamline and destroy all useless institutions and set up new ones that will truly teach the people voluntarily and enhance their skills to be self sufficient and Independent of the government..in short something like the people are there own goverment? Am I right or wrong
While the Filipinos are their own government there is still an administrator for civil and moral order right?
Apprentice, that’s right. A Philippine Government that’s about 30% of the size and the bloated budgetary imposition of today’s malignant bureaucratic kleptocracy.
We must decentralize the government first. Doing a massive overhaul while our country is too centralized on Manila might lead to disaster.
Let the provinces stand on their own and decide their own economic policies. Go federal.
A slow transition first huh? ok…so for Federalism to be passed down in the Philippines we must justify it first to the Lawyers then they’ll do the work…passing to the representatives next congress next senate and approval…the problem is…the “hindrances” which I wont mention because its common knowledge now…if it doesn’t pass which I think already is pending? or not passed? Then we must educate all the Filipinos by all means about federalism and its benefits…so they’re the ones who will do it and protest in front of the Senate building…giving them no choice but to implement it….Am I venturing in a possible future outcome just right? Prez?
The only part I disagree with is the public ‘caning’, no…FUCK THAT. The jails of the country are unpleasant enough and anyone that gets stuck there is having a difficult time as it is.The Fire Deptartment’s abolishment may lead to some serious ‘fires’, just like every major city world-wide….these guys like their jobs and when the axe swings, the torch gets lit…know what I mean?
A limit on how many children can be born is long overdue but there may be a certain world religion in the way of any type of ‘control’ of the reproductive cycle of the human-being(like goats and rabbits, GUFFAW!!!! OMG, LOL !)
Personally, I/We/US think it is far too late, the country is past the tipping point of no return and the revolving door of disaster after relief effort after disaster will continue until such time as a really big wave covers the entire archipelago……….50-60 years…tops.Only the middle of Mindanao will survive.
Pretty gloomy,huh?
Hi @Ebola Ray
“BUT, believe it or not…..its true…..debt debt debt…all debt.”
****
Yes, it seems that way and is complicated. My rudimentary understanding (and I’d appreciate if you’ll correct it if I’m wrong) is that it all originated, or has its roots, from the Bretton Woods (BW) agreement which came to be some time towards the end of WW2. BW set up the rules for fixed currency exchange rates which from then on was all to be pegged against the US Dollar. Each one US$, in turn, was supposed to be backed up by, or have its equivalent in, X-ounces of gold bullion. The first time the public became aware that there was something wrong with the BW system was in 1970 — somebody said that the gold in Fort Knox could only cover 30% of the US$ in circulation by then. By 1971, the system was adjusted to what we now have as the floating exchange rate; the dollar was no longer required to have its equivalent value in gold.
In effect, the world began dealing with various currencies/notes, just paper really, which derive their values based on assessments of the respective macro economic indicators of countries and the corresponding political situations, or stability. In reality, these were subjective assessments of bankers, economists, statisticians, or lately, by rating agencies and by the most influential media pundits. In the last two plus decades, the system has created too a sub-culture of high rollers of currency manipulators and financial raiders, like George Soros (recall what he did in Mexico and later Thailand), who know how to game the system with their expertise, in the process gaining Billions in some days, though also losing in some, but in the process destabilizing the system at times.
Out of the BW accord, World Bank and the IMF also came to be. The initial objective of WB was to help countries rebuild their infrastructure that were damaged by WW2; IMF, to help facilitate smooth international trade and provide funds as a buffer for countries that may be experiencing instability in their currencies. The catch was that the US controlled a third of these institutions. This would have been okay since US is the wealthiest, but there is a hidden string attached. When one deals with US currency, one is in effect dealing with the Federal Reserve (Fed).
The Fed is NOT a government agency, it is 100% PRIVATE. The stockholders are private banks. (It is not clear who they are, and this is the reason for the many conspiracy theories. Some say it is really the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, etc. Some even go as wild as to say that it is really the Queen of England behind the Fed, a way by which UK still control its former colony. The wildest, of course, are those speculating that it is the Illuminati via the secretive Bilderberg group that meets annually, and the Council for Foreign Relation (CFR), the common place where all the last 12 (or is it 15?) US Presidents have had work experiences some time in their lives. But, let’s leave those as they are as they are really just speculations.)
Many Americans are not aware the Fed is private, or just dismiss the fact. They want to believe it is their Central Bank, the bank of last resort to protect banks against any bank run. But, the Fed does not get any government funding, or budget appropriation, since its inception in the 1930s. Instead, I quote one analysis:
QUOTE…. When the government is short of funds, the Treasury issues bonds and delivers them to bond dealers, which auction them off. When the Fed wants to “expand the money supply” (create money), it steps in and buys bonds from these dealers with newly-issued dollars acquired by the Fed for the cost of writing them into an account on a computer screen. These maneuvers are called “open market operations” because the Fed buys the bonds on the “open market” from the bond dealers. The bonds then become the “reserves” that the banking establishment uses to back its loans. In another bit of sleight of hand known as “fractional reserve” lending, the same reserves are lent many times over, further expanding the money supply, generating interest for the banks with each loan. It was this money-creating process that prompted Wright Patman, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1960s, to call the Federal Reserve “a total money-making machine.”
….. The Fed periodically reports to Congress, but the Fed doesn’t ask; it tells. The only real leverage Congress has over the Fed is that it “can alter its responsibilities by statute.” It is time for Congress to exercise that leverage and make the Federal Reserve a truly federal agency, acting by and for the people through their elected representatives….UNQUOTE.
In short, the Fed is really just an extra middleman. They have nothing solidly collaterized except the sovereign guarantee from US that US will pay, but still the mandate to print money. US govt could do without them and go direct to the market. Fed lends money to the US which they also borrowed from the US, or gets their cut or interest whether the money comes in or goes out. bonds = reserves – is this why you are saying as all debts, debts, debts?
When EU realized that there was interest on top of interest and further on top of interest on loans, they wanted more control of the set-up where the Feds had an almost monopoly. This resulted in Europe being given control of IMF. Also, one reason why EU had to move to one currency so that they too could utilize their capability to print money in par with the Feds. Earlier, it was Japan who wanted a bigger participation in the action, but the result was just the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as some kind of a support to WB and IMF, but focused on Asia.
So, it must be that WB, IMF and ADB are also operating with the same formula: bonds = reserves. They are cooking the clients in the client’s own lard, and the money in circulation has been expanding exponentially, but underneath it are all junk mortgages. The solution seems to be for all currencies to go back to ones backed by gold or other precious metals. But, the system is just now too big, it can’t fail, or you are looking at total chaos. It looks complicated alright.
But then, if it is that complicated, Benign0 is correct. The more complicated it is, in fact, the more Benign0 is correct. We have to separate the chaff from the grain, and find a way to see it in its simplest form. And, it is really about sound fiscal management before getting involved in such a complicated matrix. And above, V Vigilante has very good comments about fiscal management.
Of course, that is easier said than dthe. As the currency exchange has created a sub-culture of manipulators, the bank portfolios have also created a sub-culture of influence peddlers, project managers, and inside traders who keep pushing projects to governments. The large commission they would earn from a loan is, of course, the one they use to entice corrupt govt officials: “Hey, Sir, if you push this project, I will share my commission with you.”
The one I don’t understand was the CCT, for example. Gloria already made a policy to reduce our exposure with the IMF grid. She slowly converted our foreign borrowings into local borrowings, which is of course benefitting us today via good credit ratings, and for which PNoy is trying hard to take credit for it. In any case, out of the blues, she wanted to borrow from ADB, the project manager from ADB must have been a good salesman — maybe a fantastic salesman as he convinced PNoy to up the loan several times. And now, ADB is complaining that 30% of it is not reaching the intended beneficiaries — of course that language is for public consumption, the inside message is increase your loan by 30% more, you buggers. Well, as Vigilante says, we have to watch the demand side, I think we have to stop this CCT immediately.
What we really have to watch is what China is setting up: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is in the mold of World Bank, though, US and Japan do not participate in it. China does not like PHL at all, and so AIIB will be sending their best salesmen here. “See, Mr PHL, you are now integrated into the ASEAN, but Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, are outpacing you, why don’t you look at this project, that project. Our loans have the most competitive rates, which we can still nego just for you. (And whispering) I give you 70% of my commission deposited in Cayman Island or any place you prefer.” Patay na. Before we know it, China has not just claimed the Spratlys, but Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
It’s like how banks are always sending you loan offers in the mail. You don’t need them, but it gets you thinking.
The poison in those promises is the notion that new infrastructure will “guarantee” economic development. If the promised development does not materialise, you are left with borrowings (to fund the infrastructure development) that cannot be serviced. Worse, if half the funds loaned by the bank are stolen by politicians, you are left with an asset worth less than the loan liability you are now saddled with.
WOW, there is a lot there and most of it is very accurate. NICE ONE !!! “Bretton Woods’ created the USDollar as the Worlds Reserve currency, among other things.In 1971 the USA actually defaulted on its bonds and was taken off the gold standard by then President Richard Nixon, many see this as a way to finance the endless wars the country is mired in (and is good for business if your a Military conractor , LOL!) and may be correct.
The ‘FED’ is , in fact though, not a mere ‘middle-man’: The Rothschilds, Rockefellers(USA interests),the Hapsbourgs,(the Queen of Englands interest), The Lazare’s(France), an Italian family as well as the Queen of the Netherlands family are the private interests behind the ‘FED” and it is very definitely a ‘PRIVATE’ bank. The name ‘Federal Reserve’ was put there as a deliberate deception.***Correction*****The ‘FED’ was created during the Christmas holiday break of the USA Congress in 1913 and no one stepped in to stop it.It was this act that Thomas Jefferson warned against until his dying day. JFK tried to end it and assassinated for it.
The ‘Interest Rate’ is what has given ‘money’ its actual perceived value since the closing of the ‘Gold Window’ in 1971. It leaves little to the imagination as to what the value of ‘FIAT'(what the current paper currencies are referred to as now) currency really is now (FIAT=Greek for ‘Let it be so’) with interest rates at ZERO and it is backed up by the biggest military in the world, ‘the men with machine guns’. China (seeing that they may be the next casualty in the never ending march around the globe) may issue a ‘Gold Backed’ currency pretty soon and it could actually lead to Nuclear Annihilation.
The currrent state of affairs will take 20 columns to explain.The IMF has turned into a ‘looting mechanism’ and is more of a ‘Hangman’s Noose’ than a ‘Saviour’s Hand’ when countries become involved with them.GMA avoided them,did she? A wise move.
A good place to gain a larger understanding of the issue’s and what is really happening is a web-site called:
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org
and for a comedic spin:
http://www.maxkeiser.com
You will see much.
Dr. Roberts is the ‘Father’ of ‘Reaganomics’ and was the ‘editor-in-chief’ of the Wall Street Journal(amongst many other achievements) and is pretty outraged at what he see’s going on. At the time of his term in the Reagan Admin. he was a young Wonder-Kid and is now an older Man and has nothing but his patriotic love of his country, the USA, to foment his disgust. According to Dr. Roberts that country no longer exists and it has basically taken about 30 years for the transformation to take place.(‘The Patriot Act’s’ removal of the 6th Amendment’s ‘Habeus Corpus’ rule being just about the last gasp of the U.S. Constitution’s existence.)
The AIIB just may be what keeps the enslavement of those not already in the death grip of the IMF. I/We?Us are not the best consult for seeing what is going on inside the “Republica de Pilipinas” and so tend not to comment on specifics there and just realize that the country is run by what the entire S.E.Asian Journalistic community(with little general disagreement) see’s as the region’s ‘Largest Criminal Syndicate’. It seems as though the politicians are all related to each other somehow and never spend a second in jail and that alone makes their attacks on each other in the media a complete charade, and meaningless.
When a few see the inside of a jail cellit maybe worth listening to one of their rantings, but until then…NAH !!!
and yes, China will claim, along with the Western Corporations that develop it, the Islands you mentioned last.
@ ADD:
Please read this:
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/07/07/greece-eu-situation-paul-craig-roberts/
it explains the situation better than I/We/Us ever could. The Man is a definite BRILLIANT mind, a gift to us all.
Thanks much, @Ebola Ray. Gosh, you are as contagious as the Ebola in Africa, but certainly not in a negative way. Glad to hear I have a correct info, but the links you introduced had my head spinning and my eyes rolling. I already bookmarked them as I want to understand them in my 2nd or 3rd reading. You know, I have stopped visiting sites talking of conspiracy theory and shades of it as I want to keep my sanity. Your links are definitely none of these; they seem to be a good resource for what is behind the news.
I have to credit an American friend for what I know of Bretton Woods. I met him in Shanghai. I will call him Jack here, but that is not his real name. That morning, there was not enough table in the hotel coffee shop, and I was forced to sit in Jack’s table. He became very, very talkative when he found out I am a Pinoy. That breakfast turned out to be a two-hour chat about anything under the sun. Apparently, Jack loves PHL and whenever he could he would convince his friend, an American expat based in Manila, who owned a couple of Harley bikes, so that they could go to Cagayan and Isabela. He said that region is one of the most beautiful and exotic places in the world and hoped that tourists don’t get to know it so that it remains unspoiled. In subsequent meetings, it became obvious that Jack knows PHL in more ways than one better than I do
Much later, I met him again at the HKG airport and then again later, in Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul. We seem to be bumping into each other, and he became curious what I do for a living. At that time, I was still working for a US based company who had this product that aids in the extractions of bio raw materials to produce puree, juice, natural oils, etc. They are simply blends of enzymes that could be customized and allow dramatic cost efficiency from any extraction process. Jack became interested in the product because it could also be used in pollution control by altering the quality of factory effluents. He asked me why I was ignoring that market, which he said did not need technical gobbledygook to convince clients. Jack said all we needed was to be prepared to give 10 to 15% kickback to city authorities so that they would implement pollution ordinances strictly. Actually, the company didn’t ignore the market and for years tried to penetrate the same, but each time encountering this need to be involved in an under-the-table deal. There was no way the company would risk its reputation with such deals even if they offered us the potential of earning a mountain of gold; so we eventually just quit pursuing the market.
Except for Aus/NZ, I can tell you that the whole Asian region governments are corrupt, and it is just a matter of degree, so I understood what Jack was saying about kickbacks. Even Singapore who are perceived as clean have corrupt bureaucrats; money may not be involved, but they could ask you for an expense paid trip to attend a seminar or symposium abroad. Indonesia is funny in the sense that you don’t need to whisper about ten percents, but they do limit themselves to 10, or 15% tops, but there seems to be an unwritten rule: you don’t take out your kickback outside of the country; when it is found out you did, you are dead, the Justice Dept will be hard after you. The rationale for that is that as long as the money remains in the country, the economy is able to use it (talk of flexibility and commonsense, and you have an example right there, hehehe.) The worst, of course, is PHL, India, and Pakistan, where you hear not so subtle demands of 50, 100, and even 200% kickbacks (bastards!) That is why there is a running joke: In China, you talk “under” the table; in Indonesia, “above” the table, in PHL, you talk of kickbacks and it is “including” the table.
But you see why many foreign companies avoid PHL. But, as a Pinoy, it scares me. It is good that the predators from IMF are busy with other markets as of now, but if for some reason, even because of just plain boredom, these guys suddenly focus their attention on PHL, I think you know we will be dead ducks even before we could shout World Bank. Because of greed, many of our guys in govt could sell the country for thirty pieces of silver even without knowing it.
I must apologize for I have been ranting for a while, but I need to establish the background for what I am about to say in the end. That means giving you a peek on the character of my source, Jack whom I have been talking about. Anyway, when Jack found out we were no longer interested in the market of pollution control, he offered to be our distributor, specific to said market. I was very hesitant at first because all I knew at that point was he was in the biz of “financial instruments”, and I could not see the synergy with our biz. (I now think Jack is part of that sub culture I mentioned in my earlier comment, but I only came to that conclusion much, much later after getting to know him better and putting one plus one.)
But, after Seoul, Jack just volunteered to continuously communicate his itinerary to me for no apparent reason. So if it was possible, I adjusted my own trip so I could meet with him this city or that city. I must say he was a good company, funny and entertaining, and he brought me to exclusive joints, I never knew even existed. We certainly had good laughs, and it became normal for us that he would tag along in my business meetings when he had a down time, and I, to his meetings when I had a downtime. After a while, I began to realize here was a guy who had very good connections at all levels with various govts in Asia. I began a process with my head office in the US to justify his distributorship. It was after months and many communication that they finally called me to make a presentation in person, and I was asked to bring Jack along. The bosses we met said yes as they all seemed impressed by Jack, but they needed the formal approval of “upstairs”. The formal approval never came. After a couple of months, in fact, they made clear my proposal was rejected, and to my surprise, I was admonished to be very careful with the company I kept. They said something to the effect that Jack was a “sub-contractor” of security agencies in DC, like CIA.
When I confronted Jack about this, he was taken aback. He said he never thought it mattered, and in his words: “it was just a sideline”. He admitted he had done errands for DC about four times in the last ten years, like delivering a message to some foreign govt or entities, which could only be done verbally as a precaution. He said they trusted him only because he had a classmate and close friend working for Pentagon. Other than that, there was nothing to it, and he was in fact furious at how stupid was the company I was
working for. He said that he was really in the business of anything from “toothpick to submarines” (his words), and he was good at what he does and makes a lot of money. He added he was sincerely interested in helping me go up the corporate ladder in a big way. Whatever, but his composure that day made me suddenly realize I was dealing with no ordinary mortal. I had a feeling he had another hidden life I should be scared of. In time, I increasingly found more good excuses to avoid him.
And now the point I was heading to. You will realize I could not talk about it without giving you a picture of Jack. I have talked with friends about it, and 100 percent they said I should see a shrink. Well, in many occasions, Jack said that the Marcos gold is real. It is substantial enough that it will rock the world monetary system if allowed to be part of the circulation. It is big because it is a combination of the wealth of the European royalties who didn’t trust Switzerland, but had to hide it from the Nazis, and the gold that Japs looted from South Asia, which they could not ship to Japan because in the middle of WW2, US intelligence had all its eyes on Japan. He said that Mindanao was strategically the best place to hide such loot because of its terrain and because it was a sparsely populated island. The capture or occupation of Mindanao was also not critical to both Japs and Yankees in the total scheme of trying to win WW2.
I am still not clear how FM found this, but as Jack said that is immaterial to the story for those on the know just take for a fact that FM had control of the whole thing. There are very select people with the Fed, Pentagon, New York, and London who are very much aware of it and have since then had varying (sometimes opposing) objectives on what to do with it. They became aware of it because there was a time when FM decided it was time to implement his big dream of a Great Nation. He sent a delegation to London to negotiate two MT (if my memory serves) test market. All alarms went off at the Fed and Pentagon as they have to investigate the source of any delivery in the quantity of metric tons of gold, and FM complied with his words and delivered 2MT. When I showed incredulity, Jack asked me why after that would FM put up a state of the art gold refining facility in Quezon City?
When the Fed realized who and what were they dealing with after the investigation, there were goosebumps in high places. There were those who knew there was a sizable WW2 loot and have been looking for it, but those who knew the exact locations were either deliberately killed, or there was an orchestrated effort to muddle the issue. What seems clear is that FM was a very intelligent operator. First, he did not allow a word of it to leak to allow the statute of limitations to pass, and I don’t remember how many years was needed whereby any nation claimant on the loot was renderred null and void, and FM let those years pass by so no nation could claim it. And if there was a leak, he fed it with more rumors, so whatever they thought was a good lead ended in a blank wall. And finally, he waited until he became the president of a sovereign nation. Also, the reason why he did hang on to his position for as long as he could? He was trying hard to have his gold benefit PHL at the maximum.. But alas, some factions in the Fed simply wanted the item for nothing. The 2MT test market was the first and last that FM was able to convert to cash. According to Jack, there are satellites up there just focused on PHL simply to monitor any movement of gold of metric ton quantity. The reasoning is that this gold for as long they remain within the PHL territory the powers that be are in control of it, and there was no way to allow it to get outside PHL
Meanwhile, there were factions in the Fed who believed there were other less aggressive options in dealing with FM. One of these was just to pour in development funds via WB and IMF. This is the reason the loan of PHL just balloned to an incredible proportion almost overnight. They wanted FM to take the bait, but FM is no simpleton. You put him in a corner, and you rev up his brain. All of a sudden, FM was no longer interested in selling his gold, he wanted to be a part of that exclusive club that owned the Fed. What the public saw was an Imelda hobnobbing with the rich and famous around the word, small part of a bigger message that said Marcoses belong to the upper echelon. Underneath that, of course, there were a lot of things going on, but it should be said that even Imelda didnt have a complete picture of what was really going on. FM, for security reasons, kept his family in the dark. The select who are on the complete know are people unknown to the public. Of course, there was no way the powers could allow FM to be part of that very, very exclusive club of the world.
Among other things, FM then started to open his lines of communications with other nations leaning Left and Communist China itself. But, of course, when you fight back against that very exclusive club that is the power behind the powers that be, you are minced meat. Destabilization in PHL started. Jack said that that was the most ludicrous of all situation, and there are still a few in America who laugh when they remember it. Here was FM, a dyed in the wool anti-communist, negotiating with communist leaning states, and there was this group in PHL shouting anti-US slogans in the cities of PHL, who 99.5% of them didn’t know they were actually working for a faction of the Fed, for that is where their funding was actually coming from.
While in Harvard, Ninoy found out the real score with FM. He decided to go home and join forces with FM. We all know what happened to him at the airport, and after two administrations of the Aquinos, nobody still knows who masterminded the assassination. Jack said it was definitely not FM, Imelda, or Danding. Jack said that if you find out who orchestrated that of JFK, then you know who did Ninoy in. He added that if the whole picture could just be unraveled, then we could pinpoint those who think they are patriots in PHL, but are actually traitor’s because of their naïveté, and those who are being painted as traitors, but are actually patriots just by a stroke of luck, or circumstances. But, we will never know because even Jack could just scratch the surface. He says it is the same in the US, he can’t tell who is really the patriot and who is not.
With Ninoy dead, FM knew he was a goner. He became open to compromise, but he was not going to pass on the treasure to the next administration which would definitely be hostile against him and do everything to corrode his legacy. Even Jack could not fully comprehend the compromise reached, it is very complicated, but he said that FM was allowed, by that faction in the Fed and US symphatetic to PHL, to distribute the gold volume to various countries and private banks “friendly” to PHL. He said that prior to EDSA One, there were shipments made to banks in New York, Switzerland, London Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and to bonded warehouses in Thailand, Korea, and China. There are more locations, but my memory is failing me now, but I am sure none was delivered to the Fed. Jack suspect that FM must have entered into a contract with the entities in these various locations that in the event that an admin came into power in the PHL that would be amenable to rewriting the history so that FM could be put on a pedestal, these entities will come to the aid by providing all the developmental funds needed by that admin independent of WB and IMF. On the other hand, Fed must have agreed to the entities keeping the stocks they were assigned, provided it would only be used as a “silent collateral” if ever they needed a loan, but they can never allow the lifting of the stocks, or the trading of it in the open market and in whatever form, as say, a gold certificate. The other faction painted a Marcos regime that was going bankrupt.
There were also deliveries to Manila and Cebu, but a sizable volume still remains in Mindanao. Jack said that for as long as there are stocks there, the island will remain undeveloped, and some of the troubles there are deliberately created just to protect the location of the stock. Poor PHL, he said, the gold has proven to be a curse to the nation, rather than a blessing. Jack asked why was WB and IMF so willing to condone the loan of PHL right after Cory came to power? Answer: because the loans have already been paid for several times over by the compromise FM entered into. But Cory not knowing, and she supposedly can not know what transpired, said PHL will continue paying the loan. How stupid. On the other hand, maybe she knew something for she authorized, as the news said that time, the digging for gold in Fort Santiago, Antipolo, and near Baguio. Of course, they found none, for as Jack was laughing, he said that Cory was a thousand kilometers off the mark of the stock location
Well, seeing how PHL has been since EDSA One, Jack may be correct that the gold has proven to be a curse. Maybe we will know if there is some truth to the story if an admin comes to power who would be amenable to rewriting the history in behalf of FM. If money start flowing in into PHL that time, then the story is true. Well, what is that bromide that some fiction are truer than facts? We’ll see. In the meantime, let us file this info under a folder called hearsay or tsismis. It could be used to understand some things in PHL, but never to ingrain it in our consciousness, so we don’t have warped perspective of PHL, for in the end, even if it is true, we can’t do anything about it. Our job as mere mortals in the society is to do our best in the respective stations we have found ourselves hoping that even in our little ways we are contributing to the well being of our nation.
@ ADD, that was a long one.
anything IS possible.
Under-cover Cops and Spies (who else works at an ‘Embassy’?) are usually not too hard to spot, the best ones though,what they do? They listen !!! the ones that ask too many questions are always EZ spots, but the really good ones? SSSHHHHH, they hear pins drop… miles away !!! Problem with these types is that they do not make a lot of money, so allegiances can be compromised easily.
One MAN of uncompromising integrity is the MAN whose web-site was pointed out to you: Dr.Paul Craig Roberts. As a Man, his credentials are top-notch.His experience in gov’t. and the ‘private’ sector are beyond impeccable.He is the Father of ‘Reagan-omics’ and knows about what he speaks.
It appears that, YOU LISTEN.You will not be sorry if you read what Dr. Roberts has to say. No one is perfect, but the good Doctor is not a ‘spin-doctor’ sugar-coating shit for the masses.You might not always be in agreement with the views expressed there but, it is certain that what is written there is truthful.
Ebola Ray is worth reading,and thanks for the tip on Dr Roberts!
“unsustainable” is becoming a hackneyed cliche, but when it comes to economic management, very few of us can truthfully say that we truly ‘live within our means’.
but when it comes to nations, let’s compare the two I’m most familiar with: Australia and Philippines.
Which one is more ‘sustainable’ :
a nation of 23 million with a couple of dozen casinos (and Sydney is getting a second one, for the really big high rollers who’ve stopped coming to Macau) and 108,000 homeless with an almost trillion dollar hole in its budget due to acquiring the latest jet aircraft from the U.S., or
a nation with over 100 million which relies on its best and brightest to bring in the bacon from overseas at a horrendous cost to social cohesion while the rest of us smoulder along in ‘public squalor amid private affluence’ (John Kenneth Galbraith’s term)?
It’s a bit of a Hobson’s choice, but I’m happier here than I ever was back there!
and should either nation try the default track some day – or ever be faced with the option of –
the only other 2 nations that have pulled that off successfully have been Argentina and Iceland, as Ebola points out, but tiny Iceland with its 320,000 population probably came out of it better than Argentina because they jailed the right people!
it must be their viking ancestry!
@ Walter……IDK a whole lot BUT it is clear that:
GOLD will outlast all of us, including all things made from paper.
maybe it will, but one story I’d really love to see – but probably won’t in the mass media – is how many philanthropists there have been in the Philippines compared to other nations:
I know only that compared to the U.S., there are very very few Australian philanthropists, except for people like the Myer Foundation.
Here we have had Mr Archie King, a man bigger than life who knew how to be generous.
Like they say, ‘you’ve got to give it away to keep it.’