The current global economic crisis is prompting many of us to rethink our consumption-driven lifestyles, what we value most, what we really need, and what we can do without and still live meaningful and happy lives. The emergence of new measures proposed to complement quantitative national income accounts – Gross National/Domestic Product and per capita [...]

Today, we see another post-it note in our Earth Watch calendar, a reminder to take care of our planet. Earth Day is turning 39 this year; it began in 1970 (actually the idea was hatched in 1962), as a campaign to draw attention to environment issues and to campaign for activism for Mother Earth. Almost [...]

I have become wary of products made in China with the spate of recent news about product contamination – melamine in infant formula that affected 40,000 Chinese babies, melamine in animal feed that showed up in eggs, melamine in White Rabbit candy. But similar issues were already in the news even in previous years. The [...]

The last three times that I was at the money changer’s, the exchange rate went down by 2.38%; this in a span of three weeks. Analysts predict it could go down to as low as 45 in the coming months. That definitely hurts exporters, recipients of OFW remittances, and outsourcing industry freelancers.

One of the modern-day paradoxes that we are encountering is the peso-OFW dollar connection. Last week, the peso hit a strong 47.94 to the dollar, a record for the past six years. Analysts attribute this to both the steady inflow of OFW remittances (so the government can’t claim credit for the stronger peso) and foreign [...]

If we think hard enough, we’ll realize that the reason for many of the world’s problems today is because prices do not reflect the costs to the environment incurred in the production of goods. The world is having a fresh water crisis because of our unbridled use of this “endangered” resource. Consider this: the production [...]

Sari-sari stores are as Pinoy as the jeepney. These neighborhood stores proliferate because most Filipinos, who earn their income on a daily, if not weekly basis, live from day to day, going to the neighborhood store to buy only what they need for a day or two. Sometimes, even those who are better off find [...]

I would probably call it the Chinese invasion of the local market were it not for the seeming friendliness of this invasion to consumers. People are lining up at the cash registers with baskets filled with non-durable consumer items that include kitchenware, school supplies, home decors, electrical supplies, hand tools, RTWs, shoes, toiletries, junk food [...]