John Nye and I just gave a joint presentation at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. The title was “Will Elites Permit Reform?” although neither of us talked about that exactly. John presented a big picture view of economic growth and the development of limited governments in the West over the past half-millennium, while I talked about land reforms in the Philippines during the first two decades of American rule. The audience was great, with a lot of very good questions, including one from a graduate student who pushed me on the ambiguousness of our results — he generously called them only “slightly” ambiguous — and another from a fellow at the law school who quite brilliantly suggested that we look at local government tax deeds. I’ll get into the details of the suggestion whenever I get around to actually talking about the paper itself, and explain why it was such a good one, but that’ll wait for later.
Right now I just want to know if anybody has advice on an interesting half-day trip from Manila. I’ve been to Batangas and Tagaytay, but that’s it for places within a three hour drive. Tomorrow’s my free day, and I’d like to get out of the metropolis and see someplace I never have before. Any suggestions?
Why won't you try Ilocos Norte and get another view of the country. Hey please add me up on facebook please.......hehehe.
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 03, 2009 at 01:40 AM
You know what, this country has the 2nd most corrupt goverment in the world. But it is the most democratic. Nonetheless if mobocracy prevails, whatever policy we economist formulate it would always be in vain.
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 03, 2009 at 01:43 AM
You really did not answer the question "Will Elites permit reform?". Before I go to UP, I have watched an interview of RP's special envoy for trade negotiations. He's talking about the policies the government will implement for the economy. He said that they are still weighing out if we should stick to the protectionism policy or should we open the economy. Does it really imply that the ruling party is anxious to open the economy for fear that it may diminish their power in their respective industries? The people in this government comprises mostly of business people with interest on diversified industries ranging from Agriculture and telecommunications. Opening the economy to the world market may mean increase in competittion.
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 03, 2009 at 02:14 AM