Showing 11 - 20 of 37
Sufficiency economy doesn't mean self-sufficiency
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 03/12/2014
» Since the head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) announced some six months ago that he would use the sufficiency economy (SE) as the guiding light for governing the country, I again have seen discussions equating SE with self-sufficiency. It's not.
Debt-inequality trap risks being sprung any moment
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/11/2014
» Last month, the International Monetary Fund issued its latest assessment of the global economy for 2014, lowering the growth rate from 3.7% projected in its previous assessment to 3.3%. The picture is less rosy despite better outlook for the United States - the largest engine of the world economy – that leads the Federal Reserve System to stop pumping massive amounts of money into the economy via quantitative easing, which totaled some $4.5 trillion over the past six years. Gloomier prospects for other economies have been attributed to continued feeble demand.
An end to wasteful spending is the key to real reform
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 03/09/2014
» The National Legislative Assembly is considering a 2.57-trillion-baht budget for the next fiscal year proposed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). This budget will incur a national deficit of 250 billion baht. Members of the National Reform Assembly — the body charged with spelling out reforms to be undertaken in 11 areas stipulated by the NCPO — have not yet been selected, so how the new budget will be adjusted to accommodate the changes is not clear. If the government is serious about its reform it must start during the coming fiscal year. That should lead to a lower deficit than projected.
Keep a keen eye on the advisers, not just the NCPO
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 06/08/2014
» Recent days saw the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One and the latest default by Argentina on its international debt.
Harnessing consumer power for the better
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/03/2014
» During the past few weeks, Thailand has seen a new phenomenon, beginning with a large number of depositors flocking to branches of the Government Savings Bank (GSB), to either close their accounts or withdraw large sums of money.
Pursuit of self-interest will doom the reform effort
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/02/2014
» Thailand needs urgent reform, according to both the government and the protesters occupying the streets of Bangkok.
The 'crooks' in charge must step aside
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 01/01/2014
» A new year, a semi-failed state?
Getting rid of the government is the easy part
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/12/2013
» Ask any of the participants in the massive anti-government rallies about their purpose, and the answer is likely to be to get rid of something called "Thaksinocracy". When asked what it means, the answer varies, but may be roughly grouped along these five "cracies".
Corruption risks pulling everyone under
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 06/11/2013
» It is not unusual for three people to share a Nobel Prize for doing research on the same subject, either together or separately. For the prize in economics this year, however, it is quite unusual because while separately conducting research on the movements of asset prices _ stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. _ the three people honoured reached contradictory conclusions.
As Buddhists, we needn't reach for the sky
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 02/10/2013
» With cities racing to build ever taller buildings, the question arises as to how much of a skyscraper is actually usable space, and how much is designed to make it taller.