The future of Metro Manila traffic looks good!

Globalization, illustrated

Nuff said.

Excerpts from UPSE's 50th Anniversary Gala Night

Quote from the ever eloquent and poetic Dean Fab:

On teaching. That the UPSE faculty maintains a romance with creative thinking should be a given; it should however maintain on the side a romance with the tuition of its harvests. In UPSE, we did not and in future shall never tolerate the neglect of our tutees on the pretext of more important involvements. There are none such. Our tuition is the precious pipeline for the propagation of our DNA and to a better future. 

In the past I have as a mark of endearment referred to UPSE as “Camelot”. The roots of this imagery goes back to the 80’s when UPSE stood as a forlorn and even maligned contrarian in the University campus: it stood for the market economics when the most swore by the Socialist command economy. We were labeled the imperialist running dogs, stooges of the hated World Bank and IMF and even jukebox economists. Nonetheless, as Pepe repeatedly observed, “we were outnumbered, but were never outgunned.” If we were on trial, we pleaded guilty only to “rigor of logic and clarity of thinking.” UPSE like Camelot was a beacon of light then; UPSE will be a Camelot thence.

Happy Valentine's from my office

Happy Valentines from Eko and Miya! pic.twitter.com/WHnxg27Mf9
— NEDA Central Office (@NEDAhq) February 13, 2015

Study on class attendance?

Actually, I can do this too with my Econ 191 class! More here from Harvard.

Competition vs. cooperation

A thoughtful piece by the Conversable Economist, Timothy Taylor:

Cooperation refers to a situation in which the participants seek out win-win outcomes from working together. Thus, the opposite of cooperation would be a situation in which such win-win outcomes are difficult or discouraged. For example, this could reflect a situation of lawlessness or a set of social norms in which people expect that cooperative agreements are likely to be broken—and, thus, the incentive to cooperate is low. 

If both competition and cooperation are understood as voluntary choices (and, after all, "involuntary cooperation" is an oxymoron), then a fully planned economy would be the opposite of both competition and cooperation. When government dictates prices and quantities, a planned economy eliminates the incentives of market participants—whether suppliers, producers, or consumers—either to compete or to cooperate.

Those of us who self-identify as economists should not wear the terminology of "competition" as a badge of shame, while wistfully contemplating a presumed ideal of cooperation. For the study of economics, as in the real-world economy, the concepts and practices of competition and cooperation are inevitably interlocking.

History of the Gerry Sicat Award

Dr. Sicat writes at the Philippine Star about the history of the award named after him at the UP School of Economics:

The GPS awards. Allow me a moment of immodesty and to talk about something that I am very proud of. It might be, in the scope of things, very small. But the end product has turned up very positive for the students and the School. 

I refer to the so-called “G.P.Sicat awards” for the most outstanding undergraduate papers at the School. In 1972, I was no longer in the faculty because I was actively engaged in national economic affairs. I suggested to both Drs. Amado Castro and Jose Encarnacion, Jr. that I contribute a small award to give a prize to the most outstanding paper by a graduating senior. To make it possible, I started a small fund. Through the years, the small fund grew, and, especially after 1983, royalties from my Economics text filled it further. It was able, even, by the 1990s, to sponsor at least an annual graduate scholarship too. 

From 1973 to 2014, a total of 206 student were recipients of the GPS awards among the best graduating papers. Had the original plan of a yearly prize for only one paper each been followed, there would have been only 41 prizes. 

Dean Philip Medalla apprised me, when I was working in Washington D.C. at the World Bank, that the quality of student papers had gone up, that the best students were spending their time writing on a variety of relevant development topics in economics, and that on commencement day when the award was also announced, the GPS award became among the most coveted by the top-rung graduating students.

It's quite a privilege to have been part of this institution! Here's to the golden year of UPSE!

Graph of the day: US crude oil production

An unprecedented increase in the past 5 years! Looks like the new age of cheap oil is here to stay.