This is exactly what happened.
Meanwhile, Quintos has predicted that both the global economies short and long term responses in this crisis will continue to be to put pressure on workers to give up still more earnings and benefits. This continued pressure on employment has affected the Philippines adversely for many years as University of the Philippines, Professor B. Diokno, has noted "In 2007, 924,000 new jobs were created; in 2008, the number was down to 530,000. This level of job generation is unacceptable for an economy that is expected to generate between 1.0 to 1.5 million new jobs every year."
Furhtermore, "[a]ccording to Diokno, a responsive jobs creation program should address five sets of unemployed and underemployed workers: those who are currently unemployed (2.7 million), those who are underemployed (6.6 million), those entering the labor force (1 to 1.5 million), those who will lose their jobs at home, and finally, Filipino overseas workers who will lose their jobs abroad."
Avila, in early August 2009, noted that the Philippines government has discussed--but not yet implemented a large 330 billion peso spending program. This program is already called the PERP (Philippines Economic Resiliency Plan).
According to Avila, the plan includes:
PhP160 billion in incremental government allocations;
PhP100 billion for government corporations, financial institutions and the private sector;
PhP40 billion for corporate and individual income tax breaks; and
PhP30 billion for temporary additional benefits from the social security institutions -- Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System -- and Philhealth [national healthcare program]
However, this plan is very short on details and with a major national election brewing in the Philippines for Spring 2010, it is not likely that any well-integrated spending plan will be implemented untill then.
OTHER DEVELOPING LANDS
China, South Korea, and a few other Asian countries have already developed & targeted investment and redevelopment plans. Many were passed and implemented in the past year--while countries like the Philippines are dragging behind the response-curve during this global economic crisis.
On the other hand, many Asian nations--from Dubai to Hong Kong--have had to be bailed out from abroad over the past year.
Nonetheless, China is legging behind in the area of structural reforms. Lack of such reforms will keep China from disentangling itself from the same sort of historical national inequalities and economic bubbles across its geographic and economic landscapes that developed nations are facing today.
In this manner of failing to tackle structural change in 2009, China and the Philippines are quite similar. They are lands divided between (a) economies of the wealthy and (b) economies of the impoverished. This division leads to institutional corruption and cronyism which will continue to hamper growth and progress for these nations as a whole for decades to come.
On the other hand, the USA (which behaves like a developing country these days) certainly has multiple economies as well.
