Yeap – GDP and GNP tend to be used synonymously (tamba ba ispelling ko?!) although most economists prefer to use GDP more.

Essentially the difference it this:

GDP indeed counts the total production that is made in the Philippines by WHOEVER is working in the Philippines. Could be Pinoys or non-Pinoys.

GNP on the other hand counts the total production of ALLLL PINOYS wherever they might be (in the Philippines or abroad) and indeed – OFW remittances comes into play here.

However, OFW remittances figures in on the GDP computation as well – where? It’s on the formula called “C” consumption.

Eto ang kagandahan nang OFW remittances compared sa 7.5% GDP if ever that is true. Why do I say this?

Sa OFW Remittances wala nang trickle down effect dahil mismong people in the streets are getting them – whereas it’s tough for people in the streets to feel the 7.5%

ETO SOLUTION KO SA POPULATION GROWTH:

Make all the population GAY!

hehehe!

so if the GDP grew by 7 or so percent, hindi pa kasama dito yung remittances ng mga OFW. GNP growth may be higher or even lower -depending on the figures from the last year’s same quarter. also, yung description above is for goods only. kasama din sa computation dito yung “services” which now accounts for a fraction of the economy. yung mga services na to – call centers, BPOs, barberya at salon, etc.

yung discussion above about the GDP is only one of the many ways to compute that animal. eto yung tinatawag na expenditure approach. yung ibang approach – income and output approach kung saan sinusuma yung wages, rents, interest, profits, nonincome charges, at net foreign factor income earned. basically, it should have the same result.

as to the veracity of that GDP figure, i’ll leave that to the authorities. as to the main driver, siguro it would have been the increased government expenditures arising from the last election. siguro napansin nyo yung mga newly constructed or renovated infrastructure before the election. also, household consumption might also increased but not that much significant. investments might have also gone up as evidenced by the increased capitalization and indices at the PSE. kaso etong mga investments na to is called “portfolio investments” meaning di sila nakakapag create ng employment dito sa tin. yung mga nakaka create ng jobs is called “direct investments”.

however, most Filipinos do not feel the impact of such growth. they would say na nothing much has changed or even lives have become worse. this is now the greatest challenge for the government – how can an ordinary Filipino feel the benefits of economic growth? at the onset, hindi ko din alam kung paano.

but some suggestion… in terms of per capita income (GDP divided by the population), maybe the government can intensify its drive towards population growth. kung constantly nagiincrease ang income, tapos dumadami naman ang naghahati dito, yung net effect is parang nabalewala din. if the population can be controlled, then, mas madaming makikinabang sa benefits ng pagtaas ng income. kung pano gagawin to, hindi ko din alam…

Yeah, you gave me an idea. hehehe! Maybe I should try that, talk economics – palengke style para malaman nung mga nag-titinda nang tapa, after all, you’re right – i read economics and money blog and it’s hard to understand them kasi masyadong technical and thats actually the reason why I blog this way.

Kaso, mga readers ko nag-ko-complain pa rin dahil masyado pa ring technical – so i guess that’s the challenge – pano ko magagawang pang-masa appeal ang economics?

hmmm… great idea IBM! kakapera ako here just in case!

More power!

P.S.
Hope you have a tandem and start something like the Philippine version of Freakonomics. That would be awesome if that’s not too much on your end.

he he he, ok yon mackay, consumption = Shopping. So, GDP = Shopping + Savings (I) + Government + NetEx, o di chuvalais!

Consumption? Am sure get mo na yon di ba? Sweldo = Consumption. he he he