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Nikkei Asian Review ,   "Election risks reigniting Philippines inflation: Failure to fix economic bottlenecks leaves country vulnerable to price pressure" What might Milton Friedman make of the Philippines today? The Nobel economist popularized the theory that inflation is "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." Since the 1960s, his argument that demand for money controlled all prices won converts from London to Tokyo. Look no further than the Bank of Japan's deflation battle and you see the American's outsized influence 12 years after his death. But events in Manila show that even the great man was not always right. Last month, President Rodrigo Duterte's team demanded that the Manila central bank explain why the nation suffers the highest inflation in Southeast Asia. Though price pressures cooled in late 2018, the 5.2% annualized rate far exceeded the 2.9% gain in 2017. The response from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was to say to Dutert...

Nikkei Asian Review ,   "Apple held hostage by its Chinese puzzle ": How iPhone maker's success manufactured the rise of Huawei TAIPEI/ HONG KONG -- Soon after Tim Cook was hired by Apple's founder Steve Jobs in 1998 to whip the company's U.S.-focused supply chain into shape, he made a bold decision. Within two years he began shutting Apple's U.S. factories and outsourcing production to China. His decision drove down costs and gave Apple the resources it needed to develop its next blockbuster products, the iPod and iPhone. It also created a competitive manufacturing base, capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of workers with just a phone call. But eight years after Cook became CEO, this strategy is being called into question. Not only has it left Apple dangerously exposed in the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing, but the highly complex supply chain that Apple built in China over 20 years has given rise to one of its fiercest compe...

Nikkei Asian Review ,   " Asia shares blame for its export slump " A moment of reckoning for Asia's exporters is a time for somber reflection and for bold action. Since Jan. 1, the region's advanced economies reported export drops thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. First came news that December overseas shipments by South Korea fell 1.2% from a year earlier. Then it was Taiwan down 3%, Singapore down 8.5%, and now the biggest collateral-damage victim -- Japan down 3.8%. To no surprise, China also had a rough December. Exports slid 4.4%, the steepest decline in more than two years. Asia's biggest economy is, of course, the main target of Trump's protectionist jihad. But as China's neighbors sustain blows, they must accept some of the blame for their difficulties -- and make urgent adjustments.   [link] Vatican Insider,  " Pope Francis’ 'Montini-inspired realism'" The "criterion" of Christian...

Sun.Star Cebu's  Carvajal: "Presidential" AS THE saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. That is basically what post-modern sociology means when it defines man/woman as a “social construct,” a  product of the society he/she was born into. It remains true that man/woman is a rational being. But how this being behaves in ground zero, like how irrational he gets over some issues, is programmed into him  by the social milieu. Free will would be what sociology refers to as “agency” or the ability to get out of the conventional mould and become your own man or woman.  Thus, a nation’s establishment protects the system that affords it so much power, wealth and privilege by promoting a culture of submission to, dependence on and  acceptance of the existing social order. Through this dominating culture, it subconsciously “constructs” society’s children into submissive, accepting and  unquestioning members of their society’s way of doing things and of gi...

Metapop: Self-referentiality in Contemporary American Popular Culture by Michael Dunne Knightfall by Davis Merritt Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value by William Poundstone Tried by Fire by Anna Lee Stangel Power Trips and Other Journeys by Jean Bethke Elshtain  Filipino Cultural Values for the Apostolate by Wilfredo Paguio Blessed are the Barren by Robert Marshall

Guanxi (The Art of Relationships) by Roberto Buderi Metapop: Self-referentiality in Contemporary American Popular Culture by Michael Dunne Name-Dropping from FDR On by John Kenneth Glabraith Knightfall by Davis Merritt It Still Moves by Amanda Petrusich

Inquirer  on Inquirer anniversary It was December 1985 and the rented office in the Port Area building was crowded with Eggie Apostol’s editors, reporters, photographers, other personnel—and an  overwhelming sense of purpose. [...]  Fast forward to 30 years later, and the Inquirer continues to deliver the news and commentary that make history. [...]  As the newspaper grew its readership, it built strength and stature. [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  about holiday cash incentive AT LEAST four councilors allied with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) are correct. The P30,000 across-the-board cash incentive for all officials and employees  is “too much.” [...]  Good work deserves to be recompensed. No question there. [...]  Councilor Dizon is right: to receive P30,000 when some of the City’s constituents continue to wait for urgent shelter assistance is insensitive, to say the least. [full text] Manila Bulletin   on Comelec and elec...

Inquirer  about  Philippines-China diplomacy Like a good Filipino host, President Aquino avoided mentioning any topic that might upset his guests, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting last week. [...] Mr. Aquino made up for lost time, however, when he took part in a series of summits in Kuala Lumpur the following weekend. Xi wasn’t in attendance, but Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was, and he got an earful. [...] In high-level diplomacy, it seems, the Ecclesiastes principle also holds: There is a time for everything. In Mr. Aquino’s view, the time was ripe for the Philippines to use the language of unmistakable criticism. Hence, he no longer merely “expressed serious concerns,” but criticized China in forthright terms, and seized every opportunity throughout the weekend to do so. [full page] Sun.Star Cebu   on  Sun.Star Cebu In more than three decades of community journalism, Sun.Star Cebu has we...

Inquirer   on post- APEC There is no doubt that the Aquino administration did everything in its power to ensure that the Philippines’ hosting of the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit would be glitch-free.  But outside of the high-profile gathering, social media seethed over the cancelled work and classes as well as domestic and international flights, and the closure of certain roads and rerouting around the Apec venues. Accounts of commuters stranded or walking for hours to reach their destinations, of airline passengers missing their travel commitments, and of ordinary citizens trapped in gridlock are now the stuff of legend. [...]  It was truly unfortunate that Filipinos, especially those in Metro Manila, had to endure such troubles. But there is another side of the Apec event to consider—the stories of those who did the country proud and those who benefited from the conduct of the meetings. [...] B ut apart from the logistical trauma, there was a positi...