Opinion: In Crisis, Indeed!

PROGNOSIS GRIM. Economic analysts all over the world have predicted a grim

economic outlook for the Eurozone. The outlook is that with the latest downgrade of France and Austria, prospects of their people has looked very grim. At the moment, France is facing a crisis of no mean proportions. It is bankrupt. Other countries having economic crisis of their own with unemployment to boot, are Portugal, Spain, Ireland even England plus a few more countries. Italy must also be named. The prognosis is that with France and Australia following suit, it is likely that economic crisis in third world countries would be the end result.

The prognosis or predictions, therefore, for Europe is very grim. People in Ilonggo-speaking countries, used to say in a game children play that one gets back at the fellow next to him or her. They call this abtikay-balikay and this is likely to happen.

Many of these countries where thousands of Filipinos have been employed will no longer accept foreign employees. They would rather provide jobs for their own people than give it to foreigners. NO CASH. Among these countries, Greece is one which has felt the crisis profusely.

Restaurants now lack patrons. There is widespread unemployment and money is hard to come by.

The still viable European countries such as Germany and France and the stable ones have gotten together and decided to pool cash resources to bail out the troubled ones. But a few countries refused to pitch in, one being Great Britain. This is because it is facing a crisis of its own. Students are protesting in the streets of England while in some countries, foreigners are not welcomed by the locals. This is because they want to preserve jobs for their own people. PROTESTS. A great many protests have cropped up, especially in the US. This is personified in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Americans have taken to the streets of many states and make known their distaste for the money-making activities of bourses, banks and investments.

Of course, the police come in and break up these protest actions.

A crisis is in the offing and many people are aware of these. This is caused by overproduction and lack for countries now, which will act as markets for finished products. AREAS FOR INVESTMENTS, MARKETS. The First World or the industrialized rich countries have imposed globalization and the triad policies of deregulation, privatizaion and liberalization, to counter the economic crisis they are facing. But it has only worked for a few years and after this, it appears it no longer serves its purpose. Escaping the crisis in their homeland, Americans have now established outsourcing people in the Philippines. One can even see it starkly in Bacolod City where call centers have mushroomed.

Economic analysts have ventured a few guesses that next year, Europe will face an economic crisis resulting, too, in the implosion or explosion of Third World countries in the world today. Thus, the whole situation in the world will go bust. WHAT ARE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS? What are, therefore, possible solutions in the face of this supposedly impending crisis? Globalization has been implemented. Outsourcing was and is a game plan. Setting up ecozones in second world and third world countries is another.
What will industrialized countries think of next? One’s guess is as good as another. But, indeed!*