Everyday, World Crisis

Everyday, the news headlines contain disturbing notes on the now-long-running world financial crisis. It was worrisome at first, but now it might border on the maddening, as stock markets across the globe tumble and decline heavily. Sooner or later, the ordinary citizen, even from as far and isolated places like the Philippines, would feel the setback in terms of financial distress, weakening their pockets and buying power.

There’s a great irony to all this; when this current global recession was still at its infantile stage, world oil prices was at its record-high of nearly $150 per barrel, but now, its down to $64. That’s a steep spiral downward don’t you think? Like it’s really not the real condition of supply and demand that’s affecting oil prices, but something beyond that, about some criteria that was not previously clear to us, man-made and unnatural.

It might not be foolish to say that if recession brings down oil prices to this very low level, then we might as well bat or wish for more and more recessions to come. It does not count, don’t you think?

Of course, recessions are really bad as unemployment rises in America so steeply and this makes the consumer power over there go down to the very minimal, and as a result exports from third world countries like the Philippines would suffer enormously. And the status of many OFW’s there might be affected as they might be sent home too prematurely or so suddenly, thus affecting dollar remittances from thereat.

Another major concern is that investments might be harder to come by, especially from America where most of the call centers here are American-owned, and we all know how the ‘telecenter boom’ had greatly improved our economy.

But it still does not count. I become worried about the worsening financial distress all over the world while on the one hand, could not help but become ecstatic with the plunging oil prices in the world market. It’s like a hot and cold treatment.

I wonder if we could have a middle point on this, like seeing the evaporation of the present gobal economic crisis and while having very low oil prices.

The problem with a burgeoning global economy is that it drives commodity prices to the ceiling and creates ‘a virtually elitist economy’ , one that is merely good for those who are financially situated to gain from the commodity boost, those that have deep pockets, like its an economic system designed for the rich and famous only, and not for the poor ones like the Philippines.