Gabby Domingo

How to address global imbalances? What are its proximate causes and what are not? What about sectoral imbalances? Solutions? Our report on global imbalances handed in yesterday to President @EmmanuelMacron for the G7, written with @helene_rey, Axel Weber and Chon-En Bai. The report can be found here: dropbox.com/scl/fi/hnsnbs6… Announcement: jp.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/rapport-sur…

New in @AEA_Journals' American Economic Review: migration doesn't hollow out the home economy — it builds it up. More than 75% of the long-run income gains from migration are domestic. The home economy itself grows. Here's what we found: 🧵

I cannot speak to what is a 'legally' sound application of Section 122, however I can make the following economic points as there is much confusion about persistent US trade deficits and a balance of payment crisis. The difference is similar to suffering from chronically high cholesterol versus having a heart attack. US trade deficits are large and need to be brought down. Reducing US fiscal deficits is important. At the same time, there is no doubt in the US ability to pay the world and therefore no crisis. There is high cholesterol but not a heart attack. In the early 1970s the US did have a heart attack. That was when the dollar was pegged to gold and other countries were pegged to the dollar. The US was in real risk of running out of gold to make its payments which then led to the collapse of Bretton Woods. The difference between persistent trade deficits and a BoP crisis is not semantics. The policy actions required to address them are not the same. A 150 day tariff cannot reduce persistent trade deficits and the US is not having a heart attack.

@GoyoYLarrazabal @LTOPhilippines @DOTrPH This makes sense. Calendar days make no sense unless u want to scare people or deliberately get people to run afoul of the law

I hope the @LTOPhilippines - Philippines consulted lawyers before making their announcement. @DOTrPH Just as a reminder, we follow the Rules of Court. Rule 22 states:

ADBI is seeking several highly motivated 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 to join its dynamic research team. We are looking for candidates with strong interests in development economics, microeconomics, and/or macroeconomics. 📍Candidates should be nationals of one of the Asian Development Bank member economies, currently residing in Japan, and have valid work permission. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: adbi.me/3N76xKx

@terryridon Why is it reckless driving? What's the logic

A few things: Crossing a double yellow line is reckless driving. The citation was proper—period. If retrieving the driver’s license was truly urgent, you should have addressed the citation immediately, not between Christmas and New Year. That’s how ordinary Filipino drivers handle traffic citations: they settle them right away because they need their license for work and family. The bigger issue is this: your son was driving an unregistered vehicle. That is why you’re now framing this as government inefficiency and unreasonable timelines. But even if the timeline went your way, your son would still not be able to comply with the OR/CR requirement for the license to be released because the vehicle is unregistered. You and your son created this situation. Own it. No amount of posturing about government inefficiency will save you.

@mae_mercadow We don't have to participate kung ayaw natin

People wanted me to shoulder the booze for the Christmas celebration when I myself do not drink and have traumatizing experiences when relatives get really drunk. The best part? When you say no, they get mad or talk behind your back.

Going to the Philippines always give me conflicting feelings. I love my family, and food is amazing. But my grandma was mad for me not giving a gift to someone I've never met before. And my cousin was complaining about her not receiving cash gift this Christmas.

@Teddybird @Wisdom_HQ It's 18 po. Pattern is tye element times the sum or 5x10=50, 6x12=72, 3x6=18

@Wisdom_HQ 36

@genylapina Lego fig? Nice!

Interesting thought before the week starts. “Even one minute without playing the blame game is progress in the art of living.” - The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holidat and Stephen Hanselman Blessed Sunday 😇 🙏

@TradeDiversion But isn't it true that under standard models exporting sector expands to a shrinking import sector. This reallocation raises real incomes?

Every Michael Pettis column is a problem set: can you write a model that makes this story hold together? For this FT column, you need some Matsuyama (1992) learning-by-doing mechanics where static comparative advantage dooms your growth... plus debt dynamics... and...? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@JesusFerna7026 When you say relatively low, relative to what?

It’s striking how many replies miss the main point of the post: for industrial policy (IP) to work, you need labor repression. Let me be clear about what I’m not saying: 1) I’m not saying that labor repression guarantees growth. This is the difference between a necessary and a sufficient condition. Plenty of regimes have repressed labor and still failed, for many other reasons. 2) I’m not saying labor repression is the only reason East Asia grew. Of course, there were other factors. But to have milk and cookies, you need milk (labor repression) and cookies (everything else). Without milk, you don’t have milk and cookies. 3) I’m not saying growth is only possible with IP. You can have successful growth strategies without an industrial policy. 4) I’m not saying labor repression means wages don’t grow. It means wages grow less than they otherwise would have. 5) I’m not saying democracies can’t repress labor. They sometimes can. It just happens far less frequently and often less effectively. I may be missing a few other common misreadings, but the point is simple: before replying, ask yourself—are you confusing a necessary condition with a sufficient one?

📦 Can industrial policy work? Yes—the East Asian experience shows it can (at least partially). But its success rests on a key condition: labor control. 🇯🇵🇰🇷🇹🇼 Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan industrialized rapidly under authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. Wages and labor rights were systematically repressed to favor capital accumulation and export competitiveness. This was especially stark in South Korea during the 1980s–1990s, when unions clashed with the state and business. (If you’ve watched Squid Game, it’s in the backstory of Seong Gi-hun.) ⚠️ Authoritarianism wasn’t incidental—it was functional. Not all authoritarian regimes succeed with industrial policy, but successful cases relied on the ability to suppress real wages and labor rights. 🇦🇷 This is why Latin America’s Big Push programs failed: their political base—urban working-class voters (e.g., Peronistas)—couldn’t sustain the wage repression required. The strategy collapsed under its own contradiction. 💥 You can’t push industrialization with cheap labor and depend politically on those who demand higher wages. The internal logic breaks. Latin America’s populism was a road to nowhere. As far as I can tell, there are no examples of country-wide industrial policy success where real wages (and consumption) were not kept relatively low. 🇨🇳 China is not so different today. 🧾 Consumption as a share of GDP remains exceptionally low—even compared to countries at similar stages of development. That wouldn’t be the case if China were a democracy. High savings and low consumption are features, not bugs, of its growth model. 🤔 That’s why I’m puzzled when advocates defend industrial policy from a progressive position that favors high wages and democratic institutions. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 📚 This point isn’t new: @pseudoerasmus has made it for years. And long before him, it was central to Marx, Gerschenkron, and Dobb—and deeply embedded in the logic of socialist Big Push programs, from Stalin to Mao.

Manila's Lost Waterscape (Updated) 🧵 Waterways and shoreline of Manila in 1898 superimposed on a satellite map of modern Manila. The water never forgets. #RebirthManila

@bigbrotherteej Electoral volatility sounds interesting! What level?

After two weeks ng data crunching in between classes, Center-related tasks, and coordinating extension activities ng faculty namin, unti-unting lumilinaw yung ginagawa naming research sa Center tungkol sa electoral volatility at education governance. May liwanag na din pala.

@bumaBAgyo Is this really how chance of rain is defined?

Sa totoo lang medyo confusing ang defiinition ng CHANCE OF RAIN. Pero puwede itong isimplify sa kung GAANO KALAWAK ANG MAUULANAN, dibaydibay kung gaano kalawak ang isang lugar.

@jayeel_cornelio @michiganstateu @DOSTphl Msu I pretty good. Any chance up can benefit?

Team DOST in Michigan. Our two agencies—Science Education Institute and DOST PCAARRD—are forging a new partnership with Michigan State University. Under this arrangement, we’ll send Filipinos to pursue grad degrees in support of our country’s growing needs in agriculture. 🇵🇭

woah, I've now read Google and DOJ's proposed remedies for Google's 3rd antitrust defeat (adtech). I threaded Friday's hearing but this full doc is nothing short of beautiful. Best stuff may be missed so hear me out. This is a huge deal - 10yrs, "lifeblood of the Internet." /1

This is an incredibly important paper that I think all professors TAs, curriculum designers, EdTech developers working on AI tutoring tools, educational policy makers, academic administrators and et al. should read it

@dieworkwear Setting discussion on clothes and makeup aside, this is about putting on effort vs no effort. Which is true across the genders no?

lots of guys have a hard time understanding that many women get dressed and put on make-up for themselves or their friends. this should be obvious bc many straight men dress badly on purpose to signal to male friends that they're heterosexual. x.com/Elpunto81/stat…

weird thing about this video is that her home outfit is great and that dude is wearing a black shirt jacket with light grey sweatpants. no color coordination, texture, or silhouette.

There's Zuck, whose underlings let him win at board-games like Settlers of Catan because he's a manbaby who can't lose (and who accuses Wynn-Williams of cheating when she fails to throw a game of Ticket to Ride while they're flying in his private jet. 8/

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Signet in Manilla. They're a multi-brand store, not necessarily a maker, but they have such great taste in both casualwear and tailoring. If I was in Manilla, I would make a beeline to their store and buy whatever they recommended.