Future Economic Prospects of the Philippines - Assignment Example

The Philippines can be considered the most westernized country in Asia. It has been colonialized by Spain for 330 years and by the United States for a few years. So it can be said that the country is very religious and westernized in orientation. The semi-feudal economic and political setup in the Philippines could be ascribed to the Spaniard's feudal influences and its inability to become truly independent and to progress during the previous decades was due to its dependency on the United States and its extensions, the IMF, and WB. For decades, the country has been ruled by its oligarchs and its economic gains are only shared by a few. Its political landscape was also marked by political upheavals experiencing three revolutions to depose a president.

The country however has one of the highest literacy in the world and also has one of the highest numbers of English-speaking people in the world. Its workers are known to be skilled and many left the country for greener pastures. Some reforms were instituted in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian Crisis which strengthened its economic fundamentals.  The growing number of its educated citizens are beginning to demand better governance thus prompting the government to implement economic reforms albeit in a gradual phase. The biggest challenge for the country however was how to stamp out corruption as it had beset the country for decades. Recently, a campaign to clean the government seems to be fruitful as the country is showing gains in economics despite the recent financial recession. CNN dubbed the country as the most resilient while Bloomberg named the Philippines as the fastest-growing economy in the world.

The three best sources that I found during my exploratory research are from World Bank report, Bloomberg, and CNN. These sources are considered best during my exploratory research because they are credible and reliable and rely on their report on hard facts and figures than opinions. These institutions are also highly respected for their reports about a country’s economy.

These sources are worth using because they provide hard facts and figures that cannot be refuted by mere opinions. When research is done to support the thesis, it will be very persuasive research because the findings were based on hard facts and figures that were commissioned by reputable institutions.