Planned dysfunction
| AN OUTSIDERS VIEW |
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| Ken Fuller |
Under the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP), gross domestic product is due to grow at a tiger-cubbish 7 to 8 percent per annum between now and 2016. Does this mean, then, that tigerhood will be at long last achieved? No, unfortunately.
The fact that the Philippine economy will continue to adhere to the dysfunctional model it has followed for decades (particularly since the World Bank administered its “structural adjustment” voodoo in the early 1980s) can be gleaned from the targets for international trade.
According to the MTDP, merchandise exports will increase by 13 percent in 2011 and 2012, then by 14 percent in 2013-16, amounting to $93 billion in the latter year. Well, that sounds healthy enough, doesn’t it? The problem is, however, that the same plan has merchandise imports growing at an even faster rate – 18 percent this year and 17 percent in 2012-16..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110412com5.html
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