Eco forum slated at Ateneo

The Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) has teamed up with the Ateneo de Manila University’s Political Science Department, Center for Social Policy and Public Affairs (ACSPPA) and the School of Government in its upcoming briefing dubbed "Eagle Watch: An Economic and Political Briefing." The quarterly briefing will be held at the Veritas Room, Ateneo Rockwell Campus in Makati City starting 8 a.m. on Sept. 26.

The briefing will feature an assessment and outlook of the Philippine economy, based on latest official economic data and analysis with ACERD’s Ateneo Macroeconomic Forecasting Model (AMFM). ACERD director Cielito Habito, former NEDA Director-General, will lead off with the economic briefing. Dr. Jose Magadia S.J., ACSPPA director will present the political assessment and outlook.

NAMFREL executive director Telibert Laoc rounds up the presentations with an assessment of the run-up to the 2004 national elections.

Habito explained that the expanded briefing is ACERD’s response to the need for a more complete assessment of the country’s outlook that recognizes the inseparability of economics from politics. "While we are often asked about the likely economic impacts of political events and alternative scenarios, macroeconometric models like the AMFM can never adequately capture such effects with any degree of reliability," Habito explained.

It is for this reason that ACERD has decided to draw on the Ateneo experts in politics and governance to complement its briefing with a more incisive assessment of the political dimension, Habito added.