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No US-Iran war, reason prevails
Sorry pessimists. After ending the 1+ decades of Soleimani murders last January 3, oil prices didn't reach $90 or higher; stocks didn't collapse; no casualty on both US and Iran troops, no "WW3"...
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BWorld 400, Top 10 energy news of 2019
* My column in BusinessWorld last January 7, 2020.Here is my modest list of important global and national stories in the energy sector.1. Stable world oil prices. After experiencing prices of around...
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Climate Tricks 91, Silence on snow and ice in the Middle East
When many parts of Australia was burning, it was big news in many papers around the world. Now the fires have subsided there and there are scattered reports of snow, ice and severe cold in Saudi,...
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BWorld 401, Inflation, transportation, and production
* My article in BusinessWorld, January 9, 2020.Regional and global inflation has been generally rising over the last two months of 2019. The Philippines reached its lowest inflation since around 2016...
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Privatization 15, GOCCs, GLCs, SOEs
My friends in KL, IDEAS, posted today about privatization. Here are our short tweets:--------------@IDEASMalaysiaIDEAS backs Cabinet decision not to sell PLUS. “A transparent divestment process should...
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BWorld 402, Taal, Cadiz City and Tapaz, Capiz
* My column in BusinessWorld, January 14, 2019.Volcanic areas are among the most beautiful places to see in the country — Mayon, Pinatubo lake, Bulusan lake, Taal lake, etc. They are beautiful when the...
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Ayalas, MPIC, ABS-CBN, even SM under attack by the President
President Duterte first attacked Manila and Maynilad Water companies by Ayalas and MPIC-DMCI, respectively, last month. Then last week the Light Rail Management Corp. (LRMC), operator of LRT1, also...
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BWorld 403, Smoking, vaping and the nanny state
* My column in BusinessWorld, January 16, 2019.“To act on the belief that we possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to our liking, knowledge...
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Energy 132, US crude oil production now 13 mbpd
Yesterday and today, oil prices dropped significantly. WTI went down to $54+ per barrel. Until last Monday January 20, prices were $58+ a barrel. And days after the killing of Soleimani, "WW 3" and...
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BWorld 404, Asian universities and UP Diliman chancellorship
* My article in BusinessWorld last January 21, 2020.Philippine universities do not seem to fare well even compared to many of their ASEAN neighbors. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university...
View ArticleOn PH's growth 2019
Before, the main driver of high growth like 2016's 6.9% was household consumption (C, about 65% of GDP) growing high. Now the main driver of low growth like 2019 is high government consumption (G,...
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BWorld 405, Coal, gas, renewables, and growth
* My column in BusinessWorld, January 23, 2019.Recently it was reported that the growth rate of Germany, Europe’s largest economy and the world’s fourth largest, fell to only 0.6% in 2019. This caught...
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Makati government and police vehicles with no plate
I took these photos last January 28, 2020. Makati City government vehicle, no plate. Govt exempts itself from its own "No plate, no travel" policy that govt strictly implements vs civilian motorists...
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BWorld 406, GDP growth and Fidel Nemenzo support growth
* My column in BusinessWorld, January 28, 2020.The good news about the Philippines’ GDP growth of 5.9% in 2019 is that it is high by global and regional trends. The bad news is that growth is...
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Big La Nina coming
After the big El Nino of 2015-2016, we are headed to a big La Nina of 2020-2021. US NOAA forecast (as of Feb. 9) for Nino region 3.4 shows neutral by April this year, La Nina by June and dip further by...
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BWorld 407, NCoV, IPR and WHO
* My article in BusinessWorld last January 30, 2020.The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is new and hence, no existing vaccine and treatment can fight and control it. As of noon, Jan. 29, some 132 people...
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Agenda, One News, Part 4
Last week February 7, I was one of the three guests of Cito Beltran in his daily public affairs program "Agenda", One News, Cignal TV. Topic was the economic impact of NCoV on the PH and the global...
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BWorld 408, Power security and competition
* My column in BusinessWorld last February 4.Last week I attended two energy fora where some important data and issues were discussed. First the “Market Operations 2019,” a media briefing by the...
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Transport Econ 23, Penalizing commuters with far away bus/LRT stops,
Government says people should take buses, MRT, LRT and other public transportation to help reduce cars and traffic congestion on the roads, help "save the planet" with reduced fossil fuel use, etc....
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BWorld 409, Inflation, land transportation, and nCoV
* My article in BusinessWorld, February 6, 2020.Consumers in the Philippines continue to be penalized by high inflation. In 2018 when the TRAIN law was implemented, the country was the “inflation...
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