By an overwhelming majority, congressional representatives voted this week to pass a bill lowering the optional retirement age for government employees from 60 to 56 years. A House press release quoted Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s optimistic take on the proposed measure: “They (government workers) can opt to quit working, receive their benefits, do other activities, and enjoy life in retirement with their loved ones even before they become senior citizens.” Indeed, this is an attractive option. Who
The gross national product (GNP) of the Philippines is the money value of all goods and services produced in a given time period by Filipino entities. As a measure of aggregate economic activity, it works; more GNP definitely means more activity. As a measure of general economic well-being, it’s clumsy; it is notably silent on distributive justice. The latest quarter’s growth in GNP was a decent 7 percent (annualized) but had no special economic effect on two of every five Filipinos. Thankfully, about one-third got better off, and fewer, about one-fourth, got worse off (“Net Gainers reach +8,” 1/28/23). Restoring a growth
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