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UP Hooligans, Part 4
This article by Prof. Antonio “Tonton” Contreras was widely shared in facebook yesterday. It looks cool, well-written, but not necessarily well-argued. An open letter to the UP Hooligans a.k.a. enemies...
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Free Trade 38: Liberalize Rice Imports and Demonopolize NFA
This is the 2nd part of my paper published by the Stratbase Research Institute (SRI) last April 18, 2014. The first part is about energy deficit in the Philippines. The full paper is posted in...
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Hong Kong Democracy vs. China Dictatorship, Part 2
This is one of the scenes in Hong Kong last night. Photo from @PhelimKine, tweeted last night with this note,"These images will haunt the #China & #HongKong govts for a very, very long time....
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EFN 41: Program of Conference 2014, Hong Kong
Friends and readers, may I invite you to attend the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia Conference 2014 this coming 6-7 November 2014, at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel, Hong Kong. The theme of the...
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Pol. Ideology 57: Radicalism, Islamic Militance and Terrorism
Yesterday I attended this important forum at Edsa Shangrila Hotel in Ortigas Center. It was sponsored by Institute of Bangsamoro Studies (IBS), Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism...
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Flooding, Garbage and MMDA
Another horrible street flooding after heavy rains last Wednesday afternoon, October 1. Photo from interaksyon.com.A good friend, Bruce Hall, asked these questions last week in his fb wall,Does garbage...
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Competition Policy 4: Paradox of Anti-Trust and Fair Competition Legislation
A good friend and academic from UP Political Science Department, Prof. Bong Mendoza, wrote this article last week.Good article from Bong, as usual.But there is the paradox of Fair Competition or...
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Welfarism 29: Is Poverty Government Corruption-Created or Self-Inflicted?
This photo was posted by ANC last July this year, and a friend reposted this in his fb wall. My comments below, plus some comments at the ANC fb page. This is mostly in Filipino, so sorry non-Filipino...
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Climate Tricks 34: Watermelon Movement, Green Outside, Red Inside
The People’s Climate March in NYC last September 21, 2014, has further shown that the climate alarmism movement is a watermelon movement. Green outside, red inside. Well, at least some of these groups...
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Tax Cut 20: On the Excise Tax on Gasoline, Various Regulatory Fees
Prof. Amado "Bong" Mendoza of the UP Political Science Department wrote another good article yesterday on tax policy.Part of his paper mentioned a low tax-GDP ratio (T/GDP) of only 12 percent in 2011,...
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Lion Rock 13: LRI Position on the Hong Kong Protests
My friends at the Lion Rock Institute (LRI) issued this statement the other day. I think it is a sensible position. In particular, I like these sentences, "... We recognize that the current atmosphere...
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Energy Econ 27: Expensive Electricity, FIT and Europe's Renewables,
I am engaged in a civil debate in a fb group, Amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Many members there are anti-EPIRA, anti-privatization, anti-fossil fuels, and highly worshiping...
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Korea Unification Soon?
Is the North Korea dictatorship crumbling further? Is the N-S. Korea unification happening soon? I really wish so.Famous investor Jim Rogers, a rich American businessman who moved to Singapore since...
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Free Trade 39: Advantages of Unilateral Trade Liberalization
Free trade is part of human nature. People may oppose it philosophically but consciously or unconsciously, they are engaged in it. Even militant protectionism crusaders are still humans, they need to...
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Hong Kong Democracy Vs. China Dictatorship, Part 3
An Indian friend, Barun Mitra, posted this interesting article from Live Mint, October 8, 2014. "Wang Zang is a Chinese poet who was taken into custody in Beijing on 1 October because he posted a...
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RIP, Leonard Liggio
Rest in Peace, Prof. Leonard P. Liggio, Executive Vice President of Academics at Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Washington DC, USA. He passed away October 14, 2014, he was 81.I met Leonard first...
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Business 360 19: Investments and Inequality in Asia
* This is my article for this business magazine in Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2014 issue.----------Accumulated savings become investments. And these in turn expand economic output and create new jobs,...
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Freedom Run 2014
This morning, I attended the 4th Freedom Run sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) in partnership with other organizations, government offices and private enterprises. It was...
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IPR and Innovation 19: The Policy Workshop Seminar in Hong Kong
Two weeks from now, I will participate in a small group meeting-seminar on intellectual property rights (IPR) of independent Asian think tanks to be held in Hong Kong. The event is sponsored by The...
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Energy Econ 28: Germany's Renewables, Collapsing Windmills
Germany's renewables energy is causing lots of instability in their national grid. See this story from NTZ, 24 September 2014, EIKE: German Power Grid More Vulnerable Than Ever…”On The Brink Of...
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