Philippine School of Economics

[sum1]

i have an idea, with some response from ebtg, posted in the Economics in Ateneo, however my dear friend bulldog said its the thread's exclusively Atenean, so here it is:

QUOTE


I am from La Salle, finished taking up Applied Economics.

I am not really in this thread to bash, but there is one thing that troubles me with Ateneo Economics.

During the JPES contest this year, there was one question about SOME ECONOMISTS arguing a philippine liquidity trap and the policy that the government should pursue to combat it.

Of course, in simple macroeconomics, we know that in a liquidity trap, monetary policies are useless, so stick with fiscal ones.

Now most of the universities got it correct, one of the few exceptions was Ateneo.

Not to brag, because you may just tell me that this is a question some others just do not know. Anyway, what troubles me is that those SOME ECONOMISTS are ATENEO economists who sent letters to editors in major dailies saying that the Philippines is under a liquidity trap.

Hindi naman sa pagbabash, kaso baka somehow the Ateneo professors don't really talk much with their students on recent issues.

And about jobs economics students get to have after graduation, believe me, you're better off than most people. Many companies prefer economics graduates than any other business graduates.

But still Atenean friends, I am hoping for a Philippine School of Economics to be founded by UP, Ateneo, and De La Salle. All students start from their respective universities, but for the electives like Public Economics, International Econ, Dev't Econ, Fin Econ, Mon&Bank, International Fin, Labor Econ. etc. we could all take them in the Phil. School under specialists in the field who would compose the School. Maybe 6-7 professors (doctorate degree holders) per university totalling 18-21 profs?

Would that be better? For example. Financial Economics is better taught by someone who's got a PhD in Finance (from Alberta, Canada). And the last time I've heard, only La Salle's got one. Sa Dev't Econ naman, magaling ang UP (most are former NEDA secretaries); labor econ, we've got two here in La Salle (Mike Alba and Winfred Villamil, both former Ateneans, one from Stanford, other from UP). Economics of Education would only be by Dr. Tullao from La Salle (believe me, he's one of the best in the Philippines, parang hindi ka nag-aaral, kaso ang dami mong natututunan, Fletcher School, Tufts University, PhD in International Economic Relations; Stanford, MA in Econ of Education, I think). I'm not really that knowledgeable about the specializations of Atenean professors, parang macroeconomics ata because of their concerns like the liquidity trap or mathematical economics, I've heard Ateneo has got one of the best math departments in town.

Whatya think friends from Katipunan? At least now, we can say that Economics Education at the tertiary level in the Philippines is world-class, and very much comparable with world standards. With its status, you could even start attracting people from abroad to teach here.

Mahirap lang nga ang administration part like who gets to award the degree on the student, and who gets to chair the school, kung rolling chairmanship ba or elections, etc.


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ebtg
Member

Registered: May 2000
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05-23-2002
03:28 AM




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The questions in JPES Econknowmics were pretty weird, though. However, I must say that the standouts were really just Ateneo, UPD, UPLB and La Salle. Speaking of JPES (and modesty aside), the Economics Society of the UP School of Economics in Diliman topped both the individual and team categories of the competition, with La Salle coming in second for both. If I'm not mistaken, this is the third or fourth straight year that Ecosoc topped the competition. FYI. An aside: My gay friends and some girls were raving about Mark John Joven. Hahaha. Apparently, he's too cute to be stuck in the basement library of PLM.

As to your observation of the Ateneo team...it's just one mistake. I'm sure it doesn't reflect upon the entire Economics team (faculty and students) of the said school which I think is one of the best in the country. Frankly, though (and I hope not to offend people), I think our counterparts in La Salle are better trained in Economics than our neighbors across Katipunan. I'm not saying that the difference is significant (maybe it's not statistically significant--hahaha, econometrics rule!) but perhaps the people from Taft just had it lucky in the JPES competition.

A Philippine School of Economics, huh? That's a great idea. I think it would be nice to have Dr. Tullao and Dr. Habito as professors. Ok, so "nice" is an understatement. For starters, I think there should be a central library or at least have the three libraries connected through a wireless WAN.

What is your proposal regarding the teachers, exactly? Those 7 professors should teach full time? Should they also abandon their positions from their original universities? It seems like a viable idea, though. However, how do we go about paying the tuition fee? I'm absolutely sure not everyone in Diliman can afford to pay the P1,000+ per unit of La Salle and Ateneo. I think it has a long way to go before we see the cornerstone of the Philippine School of Economics in place.

In Diliman, we've always been saying that our Economics education is world class. As the sole center of excellence in Economics in this country, we take the lead role in pursuing the furtherance of the discipline. UPSE is one of the best schools in Asia and in the world. This is evidenced by our faculty profile, research output, high rate of acceptance by employers of our graduates (with a high starting salary to boot), and valuable contributions to the Philippine society and to the advancement of the discipline itself.

We have a "nationally unparalleled record of international publications in the discipline" (www.econ.upd.edu.ph). Some professors are even editors and referees for well-known international journals like the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Public Economics, Southern Journal of Economics, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications and the Journal of Matrix Analysis and Applications.

26 of the 29 faculty members (excluding the lecturers, teaching fellows and teaching associates) have a postgraduate (Ph. D.) degree, translating to 89.7%. The rest (3) have M.A.'s. The lectuers, TF's and the TA's comprise an additional 2 Ph. D.'s and 22 graduate degree holders. Majority of the postgraduate degrees were obtained from world-renowned institutions abroad including, but certainly not limited to, UC Berkeley, Yale, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Hitotsubashi, Fordham, New York, Harvard and MIT (no, not Mapua).

One might say that this is sort of an advertisment for UPSE. Well, maybe. Hehehe. I'd like everyone reading this who are thinking of acquiring a degree in Economics to first consider UP Diliman. You'll never regret it (until you hit junior year when you have to contend with hideous words like heteroscedasticity, multicollinearity, micronumerosity and the like).

You know, it's not bragging when you have something with which to back it up.

/QUOTE

[mac_bolan00]

the UPSE IS the country's CENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. it says so on the sign.

[sum1]

yes, specially for studies in economic development, but economics is such a wide subject, there are many fields that of course maybe La Salle or Ateneo would have an edge.

As far as I can see, for Financial Economics and Economics of Education, it's La Salle. Dr. Angelo Unite (Finance, Alberta) is one of the best finance people here in the Philippines with articles published in the Pacific Basin Finance Journal, American Economic Review, etc. Let's assume that he's the only finance doctorate degree holder who teaches, then it would be nice for other economics students from other universities to get him to teach them finance. For economics of education, no doubt, it's Dr. Tullao, or no one at all..

So Ateneo peeps, in what areas of economics Ateneo's good at?

[cool_water]

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
the UPSE IS the country's CENTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. it says so on the sign.


i certainly agree.
The profs and the products( the graduates) support the claim.

[mac_bolan00]

they say two of the UPSE's strong points are resource and environment economics. kaso, the gov't wants them to study things like health services, education and national security. iba talaga kunng hawak ka ng gobyerno.

[sum1]

by the way who's good at mac?

[ebtg]

sum1, don't let anyone push you off a legitimate discussion. There is no such thing as an exclusively Atenean (or for that matter, exclusively Thomasian, La Sallite or taga-UP) thread. No one has the monopoly over the threads in PinoyExchange--that, I learned in my two years of "stay" here. Just because the title is "Economics in the Ateneo" doesn't necessarily mean that the discussion shall remain as such forever. Topics evolve--because it is dynamic--but I don't think it is obligatory on your part to move out of the thread just because someone claims that it concerns only economics in the Ateneo. People who follow the development of a thread would like to simply click on the original thread title instead of looking for new threads created to accomodate new discussions that have emerged. But, since you started this one already...

Those with Ph. D.'s in finance teach at the UP College of Business Administration, and not at UPSE. Those under the Business Economics program are required to take Finance (and a number of other business subjects) but those enrolled in Economics "only" may not take it (they could, of course, take it as an elective). The contention, however, that only those with postgraduate degrees in finance can teach (and teach well) financial economics is spurious, I think. You can have a Ph. D. in economics with finance as an area of specialization, you see. Although, I certainly don't doubt the expertise of Dr. Unite.

As for economics of education, that we don't have as a regular subject though I think, from time to time, it is covered under Econ 198: Special Topics. Perhaps if I am able to teach at La Salle after I graduate, I can learn some things from Dr. Tullao.

[sum1]

ebtg, bayaan mo na, humiwalay na tayo sa thread na yun. kaya lang naman ako nagpost sa ateneo economics thread, kasi if ever, kasali rin naman sila sa philippine school natin. haha.

si dr. unite sobrang wierdo yun. haha. ph.d. (distinction, or whatever they call it) in finance, minor in economics and econometrics. galing no? summa cum laude (la salle, ab econ), mba (with distinction, la salle).

kaya pag natuturo yan ng financial economics, talagang economics ang labas, kahit na ang books na pinapagamit niya (elton & grueber, and bodie, kane, & marcus) are specialist finance books in investments.

sad to say ebtg, as what i've emailed you, right now, la salle's not accepting only bachelor's degree holders to teach subjects. if you get some masteral units, you could teach some basic economics subjects like introductory economics and aggregate economics. for higher economics subjects from micro and macroeconomic theory and up, you would need a masteral degree. policy daw yan ni bro. andrew e.

but if you want, you could take up an ms economics here at la salle (as against to an master in applied economics) for specialist research in economics. the official start is this first term. if my memory serves me right, after a year of teaching while studying merits you to free tuition afterwards.

teacher ko si doctor t. (we call him that) sa special topics: economics of education last first term. e usong uso yung kidnappings noon ng mga abu sayyaf. biglang nagkuwento siya what if kung nakidnap siya, isa lang daw ang sasabihin niya pag nainterview siya sa tv (with actions pa);

"tuloy pa rin ang mga readings!"

bigla nalang sumigaw. mamatay ka sa tawa.

he's completing a book in international finance right now, and updating his book in introductory economics in filipino (for high school). r.a. niya ako ngayon and he's completing a modified mincerian wage equation cum labor productivity study of the philippines. he's on sabbatical leave, and would be coming back 2nd term this coming school year.

ponciano intal is also one professor you shouldn't miss. former deputy sec of the neda, former president of the pids. he was my teacher in econ dev't. and matatawa ka, ang readings sa subject niya mga sinulat din niya.

anyway, who are the funny (read: cool) professors at up or at the ateneo? naalala ko pala, sinabi ng dean niyo sa upse doon sa young economists conference last february na kelangan isara na ang mga ibang dept. of economics sa buong up system, would that idea go far?

my question remains: what school is good in mac?

[ebtg]

Certainly. Personally, I'd rather not engage myself in irrelevant ****-a-**** such as conjuring up a sensible reply to someone claiming exclusivity in a thread. Although, sometimes I falter, I must admit. Haha.

You've e-mailed me? Sorry. I haven't updated my profile here in PEx in quite a while--more than a year already, I think. PM me your e-mail. You seem like an interesting conversationalist (at the outset, at least).

La Salle has a fantastic policy of accepting only graduate degree holders. We practice the same thing, except that the introductory courses are never taught by the junior faculty. Only the tenured professors are allowed to teach the basics. That's a policy of UPSE and isn't necessarily applied in other colleges within the UP system. Not to disparage other units but let's take for example the Philo department. My gosh, they have fresh graduates teaching some of their courses. That's unheard of in Econ!

It's interesting to learn things about Dr. Tullao. I remember one PExer insisting that he should be cloned because of his sheer genius. Hehe. Honestly, though, I don't know sh*t about the Mincerian Wage Equation. I haven't even heard of it. Then again, I haven't taken up Labor Economics yet (and I probably wouldn't, ever--teacher is boring). It must be interesting to work as an RA. You're paid a salary, right?

As for P. Intal, I think I've read a paper of his (or maybe I just saw his name somewhere). Former president of PIDS, huh? Have you checked out their website? Loads of papers to download! Makes searching for a thesis topic so much easier. Decent layout, too--browsing is pretty easy.

Funny profs in UP? Definitely Winnie Monsod! She's hilarious! One time, she was talking about MC=MR. At a point where the two were not equal, she goes, "Will I buy at this price?! Ano ako, gaga?!" When she was still smoking, she used to draw on her cigarette then proceed to write a long equation on the board before finally exhaling. You definitely won't fall asleep in her class. Apart from her youthful pizzaz in teaching, she'll throw a blackboard eraser at you if she catches you snoozing. It's too bad she didn't win in the national elections. Imagine a senator like Mareng Winnie making mincemeat out of Santiago and Oreta.

There's also Dr. Carlos. She's a dreaded prof in macroeconomics but if one sees past the terror, she's really just funny. She says "Isn't it?" for everything! Connecting a six-panel diagram (I think it was rational expectations), she's like "And down beloooooow..." while dotting a line across equilibrium points. She's also not too fond of writing long equations on the board. For example, there's this pretty long denominator in one equation and what she did was just to put a (.) in place of it. "Blah, blah, blah all over something." "Ma'am, what's the something?" "Ha? It's too long. Basta that's your homework!" which, of course, she doesn't check anyway. After erasing something on the board, she just throws the eraser on the ground. When she needs it again, she'll say "Where's the eraser?!" Plus, if the board is full already, she writes on the wooden border at the bottom. If that isn't enough, she writes on the door!

I was supposed to attend the Young Economists Conference but after learning that I had to be in business attire, I ditched it. I'm not too fond of dressing up. Hehe. Plus, we had to pay!

Dr. Fabella (our dean) insists on making the Diliman campus the sole source of an economics degree in the UP system. The best teachers in the field come, of course, from Diliman and the quality of education that we receive is substantially superior to that taught in UP Mindanao or in UP Baguio. The problem lies in the fact that you get the same diploma as if you know the same things when in reality, you do not. It would be better to abolish the economics program of the other units and transfer the students to Diliman and have them stay in the dormitories so that we can maintain the quality of economics education in the UP system.

Actually, he would go further than that. He also thinks (at least, from what I remember) that some of the other campuses should be abolished, particularly Mindanao, San Fernando, Baguio and Cebu. First of all, the quality of education is not maintained throughout the system. An engineering degree in Diliman is obviously far superior than in any other campus. This proposal will also decrease administrative costs in running satellite campuses. It's not as if you have UP Mindanao and that's it. You also have janitors and other maintenance personnel, teachers, administrators, etc. What would be best is to shut down these campuses and transfer their students to Manila, Diliman, Los Banos or Iloilo. It would be cheaper to house them somewhere in these campuses than have another totally different campus. The land could then be used for other productive purposes (perhaps income-generating, too).

The bigger perspective, is of course, the burgeoning of state universities and colleges everywhere in this country. I mean, my gosh, you have CLSU, PUP, TUP, etc. It would be best if the government reduces the number of these state universities. Of course, my activist friends in Diliman would tend to disagree with me vigorously but the central issue here is that of efficiency. You can't be having almost 200 SUC's operating in this country. Sooner or later (well, it has happened, actually), the quality of education will significantly deteriorate because instead of having the budget allocated for teachers' incentives, improvement of facilities, and support for research and development, the bulk will go to MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses)--a problem students in UP are all too familiar with. The electrical sockets in the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy don't even work!

The problem is you have congressmen and senators enacting these laws creating SUC's all over the country. A congressman from Bicol wants to create a "Bicol State University" or a congressman from Mindanao files a bill creating UP Mindanao. It's ludicrous! What happens is UP is now forced to operate this satellite campus. It's not as if congress allocates budget for its operation! They do that to ensure that they are re-elected during the next election. I mean, of course, a naive person would certainly vote for that congressman who helped in creating a state university right at his doorstep! Sheesh.

As to which school is good in macro, well, UP of course. Haha. :D

[ebtg]

The word t_e_t_e-a-t_e_t_e is censored?!