The recent midterm elections in the United States delivered a powerful message about affordability. Americans are angry about the cost of housing, healthcare, food and other necessities, and rightly so. Even in one of the world’s wealthiest economies, prosperity means little to households struggling to maintain their standard of living. That frustration deserves to be heard, regardless of which party wins an election.
Viewed from the Philippines, the message is sobering. The United States has a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of approximately $90,000. Ours is barely $4,200. These figures do not account fully for differences in living costs and purchasing power, but the disparity in economic prosperity is enormous. If affordability can generate such anger in America, what happens in a country where families have far less income with which to absorb rising prices?
The question has become more urgent following the announcement that our economy grew by just 2.1% in the third quarter. Household consumption growth slowed to 2.4%, agriculture contracted by 4.8%, and capital formation declined by 0.2%. The word stagflation has begun entering the conversation. For families preparing for Christmas, the immediate questions are less technical: how far will their money stretch, and will their work or business provide enough to get by?
But I worry that the pain of today may be obscuring a greater danger. What happens if economic weakness persists for five or 10 years? What becomes of a country still trying to close an already enormous gap with its more prosperous neighbors?
We were once called the sick man of Asia. During the 1980s, our economy grew by an average of around 2% annually, while regional peers grew much faster. Debt, instability and economic mismanagement left damage that took decades to repair. We eventually restored growth through difficult reforms, stronger institutions, private investment and renewed confidence. Yet our neighbors did not stand still while we recovered. The opportunities we lost during those years could not all be reclaimed.
One weak quarter does not mean we have entered another lost decade, nor does slower GDP growth automatically reduce our income per person. But sustained weak growth, especially when paired with inflation and inadequate investment, can prevent real living standards from improving. We should take that risk seriously before the old label begins to fit us again.
The stakes may be even higher today. Artificial intelligence, automation and advances in computing are changing the industries in which tomorrow’s workers will compete. Other countries are investing in education, energy, research and infrastructure to prepare. These developments will not slow down while we sort out our problems at home.
Consider a Filipino child who is 10 years old today. By 2036, that child will be twenty, preparing for university, work or a livelihood. Will our schools have prepared them for the opportunities of that world? Will their communities offer jobs worth pursuing? Or will they inherit an economy that is still attempting to recover the ground we are losing now?
Some losses cannot be reversed by a rebound in GDP. Years of inadequate nutrition cannot simply be returned to a growing child. An education missed cannot always be recovered. A young person deprived of the opportunity to develop skills may face disadvantages for the rest of their working life. The cost of a lost decade is borne most heavily by those who had no say in the decisions that produced it.
We need immediate relief for households and a credible path back to stronger growth. That means restoring confidence in public institutions, confronting corruption, enabling productive investment and making public spending count. It also means protecting the fundamentals that determine long-term prosperity: nutrition, education, healthcare, reliable energy and infrastructure. This is not a choice between caring for families now and investing in their future. A responsible economic response must do both.
The American elections remind us that even great national wealth cannot excuse an economy that feels unaffordable to ordinary people. The Philippines faces the same demand for a decent life from a much more difficult starting point. We must make life bearable today while building the prosperity that so many Filipinos have yet to experience.
As Christmas approaches, I hope families and businesses find some respite. But I also hope we look beyond the next quarter and the next election. We know what it means to spend years catching up while the rest of Asia moves ahead. The children who inherit our decisions deserve more than another generation spent trying to recover.
The views expressed herein are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX.
Joel Luis E. Dabao serves as the President of Kabankalan Community Antenna Television (K-CAT, Inc.), a key cable and internet service provider based in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental. Under his leadership, the company has been a staple for connectivity in Southern Negros.
