If you think I’m generalizing and Dr. Nye is not, please try reading again his comment that you have quoted. (I do understand though that he is not writing an economic treatise.)

Anyway, a policy mixed bag of pursuing a developmental state and an economy that is self-reliant and effectively controlled by Filipinos vis-à-vis the recognition of the indispensable role of the private enterprise is constitutional mandate (see Art. II, Sections 19 and 20 of the Phil. Constitution). What I’m seeing is that Noynoy’s (as well as the LP) platform on the matter is no less a reaffirmation of the mandate.

This is how the LP platform states the Party’s principle on this score, paradoxical as it may sound:

In economics, Liberals believe that the social market economy is best able to generate prosperity while guaranteeing the maximum degree of choice. Government’s task is to ensure that the market operates freely and efficiently, by promoting competition and preventing monopoly. It must also ensure that externalities – most importantly, environmental costs and benefits – which are currently excluded from the prices set by the market are fully integrated

(emphasis mine).

While I could also see that Noynoy is a pragmatist rather than an ideologue, his repeated emphasis on consultation and transparency as well as on what works based on “kung ano ang tama” tells us that to him efficiency alone won’t be enough if not tempered by the right principles.

He seems to be looking too for best practices suitable to RP not from Lefties in the West but from successful economies from the region (maybe, Taiwan or South Korea).

It won’t be surprising if Noynoy as president will resist another Washington Consensus (or World Bank) formula even if given by a former classmate especially if such would be prescribed as an ideological end by itself.

My sense is that, during the fiscal crisis, keeping the highest income tax rate at only 32%, the lowest rate among the countries you’ve mentioned, could be in keeping with a low tax regime.

Beyond the crisis, I’d like to see a convex income tax structure where more tax is imposed on more wealth instead of the VAT the ultimate burden of which is passed on to the middle class.

Btw, Villar at the MBC forum is reported to have said he’s willing to impose new taxes to solve the fiscal deficit. If the Argentine crisis is any lesson learned, this may not be good idea, I suppose. Large tax increases without solving tax evasion was thought to have contributed to the Argentine debacle.

What I was referring to was the fact that many of us as voters/consumers fall prey to our own biases. These biases make us vote for “anyone but…” because we have a bias against X.

The reverse is that some of us see only the good side of a candidate since we are biased in favor of Y. These biases can be exploited or magnified by candidates and their handlers to either favour or hurt them. That’s all I was pointing out.

I wasn’t saying that people were right/wrong for holding these biases. It is part of our make up. No matter how rational or above the fray we project ourselves to be, each of us from ABC to D and E discriminate based on our preferences (aka biases).

I am not about to make such sweeping generalisations that all of Noynoy’s economic and social agenda are sound as you do though. I would rather analyse them point by point. Some may be sound, others not.

Here’s what Jonathan Nye, a classmate of Noynoy and highly regarded economist reportedly says about his program of government:

“I read Noy’s Platform for Resurgent Hope…I fear that (it is) filled with implicit promises that will increase corruption in the long run. Maybe this is just the way that politics occurs. You say things one way but the implementation is what counts. But..I am worried that it is the same checklist of ideas borrowed by left wing/progressive parties in the west. Especially the emphasis on job creation, gender disaparities, environmental regulations, etc. At the same time, it talks about encouraging investment and private enterprise, and it is good on anti-corruption, etc. These sorts of plans may be appropriate for Europe or the US but are a disaster for 3rd world countries.”

“If you remember my speech, I think the time will come when you will have to worry about whether too many giveaways and too much new legislation will only increase existing corruption. Perhaps the time will come when you need to consider some new initiatives that are unusual and which will not have the same flaws as price controls on drugs, subsidies to oil and gas, or bad land reform.”

“I hope that Noy has economists on his team who will discuss his ideas seriously and try to think about what implementing some of his ideas will entail. I will probably be working with the World Bank next year and may end up as one of the World Bank team advising whichever party wins.”

“But the anti-corruption focus is wonderful. You just need to be careful that the things you promise won’t make it harder to keep those promises.”

“I would argue that in Cory’s administration, the foolish plan to control the ex-Marcos assets and sell them off at a “high” price (PCGG) ended up creating more headaches for the govt than they wished.”

“Since Noy and TG are favorites to win, someone on their team should be thinking seriously about what concrete plans can be implemented that will not increase the probability of corruption.”
———— ——–

About Dr. John Nye

Dr. Nye graduated valedictorian (Ateneo HS) in 1977, the same year and school as Noynoy Aquino and TG Guingona. He earned a BS from the California Institute of Technology and a MA and PhD from Northwestern University. Professor Nye is the holder of the Frederic Bastiat Chair in Political Economy at the Mercatus Center. He is a specialist in British and French economic history, and the new institutional economics. He was a founding member of the International Society for the New Institutional Economics and has been on the editorial board of the Journal of Economic History. With John Drobak, he was co-editor of Frontiers in the New Institutional Economics. He has been a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a visiting professor at Stanford University. He is a regular visiting professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. His latest book, War, Wine, and Taxes, has just appeared from Princeton University Press.

Dr. Nye will soon take up a post at the World Bank and may be part of the team advising the new President of the Philippines.

“Such an approach is apparently WITH a view to ‘(transforming) our country into one where we have lower tax rates enjoyed by all.’”

And also,

“PLEASE check the Inquirer.net right now . . .”

http://politics.inquirer.net/videos.php?vid=2875

If you have been carefully vetting Noynoy’s performance in several public appearances, I’m not sure if the “buyer’s regret” you are talking about has any basis at all.

I’m about to suspect you are one of those being hoodwinked into buying what’s being peddled out there by agitpropists to the effect that Noynoy is an empty vessel latching only on “mythical family heritage.” You could be smarter than that, if you try to be more diligent.

Last night, I reviewed Ninoy’s famous speech in LA on February 15, 1981. Ninoy was very entertaining yet now I could say that, unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have the substance that his son is exhibiting nowadays.

Pleased check the Inquirer.net right now, which features a video clip of Noynoy during the UP debate sponsored by PDI. Don’t you think that Noynoy without being theatrical has both form and substance?