The economy’s backbone

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 04/04/2023

Over the years, I have described agriculture as the economy’s backbone. While I believe this to be true nearly everywhere, it’s more especially so for the Philippine economy. Many might find it hard to agree, especially considering…

‘Provincializing’ agriculture

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 02/28/2023

You know agriculture is in great trouble when so many op-ed columns are being written on the sector, even from writers who don’t normally deal on the subject. The attention is well deserved, as I consider agriculture…

Creative lessons from Korea

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 02/21/2023

It seems hard to believe now, but Filipinos on the average were twice richer than South Koreans back in 1965. Data from countryeconomy.com show average income (GDP per capita) in the Philippines then at $211, and $108…

PiTiK-testing the economy

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 11/15/2022

Last week brought welcome news on the economy, as the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that our gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter grew by 7.6 percent over the same quarter last year. Many argue that…

Who cares about GNP or GDP?

Mahar Mangahas - @inquirerdotnet 10/01/2022

What’s the difference? Both the gross national product (GNP) and the gross domestic product (GDP) are sum totals of the money-value of goods and services produced over some period of time. The former refers to what is…

Bouncing back

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 05/24/2022

Now that the first-quarter growth figures are out, I thought I’d take a closer look at how the economy is growing. The report was a surprise to many, as most analysts had expected the gross domestic product…

Political Economics 101

ATTY. DENNIS R. GORECHO 05/03/2022

It is always interesting to analyze political economy especially during election time. Political economy is about how politics affects the economy and the economy affects politics. Economic conditions have a powerful impact on elections. Voters on different…

Dreading debt

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 12/14/2021

As of today, our government owes money equivalent to nearly two-thirds of all incomes generated in the economy in a year. The total debt owed by the national government as of the third quarter stood at P11.92…

Third quarter surprise

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 11/23/2021

I was wrong about how the economy would fare in the third quarter (Q3) this year. And like most everybody else, I’m glad I was. Most were surprised at the unexpected strong upturn in the country’s gross…

11.8 percent GDP growth—what it means

Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet 08/14/2021

  Is the 11.8 percent growth of GDP in the second quarter of 2021 an indication that the Duterte administration has managed the COVID-19 situation really well, and has achieved the correct balance between lives and livelihood?…

How did PNoy fare?

Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet 06/26/2021

PNoy was not my candidate for President in the 2010 elections, but he was certainly head and shoulders above the rest of the “frontrunners”—former president Joseph Estrada and Sen. Manny Villar. The smell of corruption surrounding these…

Debt-to-GDP ratio jumped to 14-year high in 2020

Philippine Daily Inquirer 02/04/2021

Repayments and a stronger peso slightly tempered debt accumulation in December last year, but the record recession coupled with a jump in borrowings to fight COVID-19 jacked up the share of unpaid obligations to the Philippine economy…

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