Getting the economy right

“This shows not only freedom from external global factors and a positive degree of insulation from the current global slowdown, but also our reliance on ourselves as the main economic driver.

The current opposition, then the ruling party under Benigno Aquino III, had not only gotten the economy wrong as they relied on the inertia of the previous administration but by bungling and institutionalizing their incompetence and sloth, had done us a grievous wrong.

The result was anemic growth in critical foreign direct investments, partial and wholesale divestments in critical employment-generating industries, net negative manufacturing, a total disregard for the agricultural sector and government infrastructure, and worse, the spawning of a cancerous narco-state with the highest-ranking officials complicit in its genesis.

Add the serial scams in public health, transportation and local government governance and the cumulative arithmetic yields a non-inclusive economy falsely glistening with the sheen of faux gold leaf painted over rot.

Margaret Mitchell once wrote, “Not all that glistens is gold.” Chaucer, then Shakespeare preceded her. Perhaps, Aquino missed reading them. Their writings are over two-pages long.

In the recent midterm elections Aquino’s chosen once more attempted a reprise. A losing standard bearer attempted to hinge their platform on inflation as a perpetuating polemic under the Duterte administration, forgetting that inflation is pro cyclical. High inflation rates tend to precede high economic growth.

As expected, they again got the economy wrong. And as expected, they were again routed.

Losers. Getting the economy right and through that, doing the constituencies right requires both brains and a heart. It’s about economic expertise and sincere empathy. It is about understanding the numbers and a genuine concern for the welfare of Filipinos.

Both are behind the successes of the current dispensation.

Not only has the administration gotten the economy right, but more important, as we focus on the things that matter most where these have largely been neglected by previous politicians cut from a different bolt of cloth, Rodrigo Duterte seems to be doing us right where it counts.

Check out these numbers that impact on our ordinary lives and on ordinary Filipinos.

While the gross domestic product statistic is a number many cannot relate to, we cite it here as an example of what our economy has achieved in the short run given the deep end it had sunk to after a stupid congressional war the House had waged against the Palace on the issue of greed and pork barrel insertions. GDP is projected to reach a growth rate of 7.2 percent at the high end from the doldrums it wallowed in from congressional idiocy.

Helping achieve such GDP heights, private construction grew by almost 200 percent to achieve a 19.1 percent growth thus indicating business confidence in the government’s programs despite congressional friction.

If we dissect the impetus for such growth we might see that most of these are fueled by the domestic economy. This shows not only freedom from external global factors and a positive degree of insulation from the current global slowdown, but also our reliance on ourselves as the main economic driver.

To be specific, household consumption grew by 5.9 percent. That it was the lead growth driver tells us two things. One, we’ve tamed inflation where our consumption has not only grown but has led growth. Two, the Filipino is economically hyperactive, leading the productivity charge and overtaking industry and government thus compelling the whole pack to race forward.

Driven by domestic demand virtually negating the downsides of a global slowdown and the negative impact of the US-China trade wars on the manufacturing sector, together with our “Build, Build, Build” spending we’ve transformed ourselves into a virtual regional tiger.

Glancing at our unemployment data shows a 5.4 percent jobless rate far below the 8.5 percent average. Combining this with the household consumption-led growth projected to reach 7.2 percent by year-end, we see that in these last months, not only are 94.6 percent busy at work but their employment allows productive consumption at levels that yield remarkable growth certain to be unprecedented at the close of 2019.