"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" <br> Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

DESPITE the recently approved US$ 787 billion Stimulus Bill passed by the US Congress, and signed by President Barack Obama, plus the $ 750 billion previously asked by, and granted to, the George W. Bush administration, plus hundreds of millions of British pound and Euros being doled out by various European governments, the consensus, among European heads of state, central bank governors, and major commercial bank CEDs, is that the global financial crisis is "not yet under control."

And, frankly they have no idea how long it will take for the situation to stabilize, and how it will play itself out.

That is, the global recession is unexpectedly more deepseated and the contagion more widespread than earlier diagnosed.

It is the worst economic crisis in nearly 75 years, but mercifully it is being tackled frontally and resolved with dispatch by better communications among leaders; more advanced database; and passage of financial stimuli by respective Congresses and Parliaments, or as Philander C. Johnson humorously mused, "cheer up, the worst is yet to come."

First, on the one hand, their global economic recession will precipitate radical changes in how businesses will have to be conducted in the future; there will be more and closer supervision by government regulators to mitigate possibilities of massive fraud, greed, and carelessness in the future; and the geopolitical landscape will also change pari-passu with financial reforms.

It follows naturally that whatever new political and economic order will emerge in the West after the meltdown will also affect emerging economies, such as, the Philippines, hopefully for the better.

However, Filipino leaders must realize that President Barack Obama has no time to entertain small countries as his focus is directed at the domestic US economy, and the declining influence of the United States in world affairs.

Undoubtedly, the current financial crisis has greatly frightened consumers vis-à-vis the future, and businesses as they see the value of stocks plummet, and in response they have drastically retrenched, and thus making the situation worse.

The fact of the matter is that the United States is not only bleeding continuously with the unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the various financial stimuli, while urgently needed at this moment, will not only level the greater budget deficit but will also have to be repaid by future generations of American taxpayers.

What we are saying is that the financial reforms how being contemplated in the West will affect the rest of the world, especially small emerging nations, such as, the Philippines, in which the role of the State will be larger and that of the private sector will be smaller.

Second, what is tragic and sad is that while world leaders are working overtime to solve and stabilize the recession, Philippine Congress, particularly the Philippine Senate, could not care less.

The senator are totally indifferent to the world crisis.

They would rather beat to death no-brainer issues, such as, bidding manipulations which are common knowledge; fertilizer scams, and other controversies should already be warehoused, and more attention be allocated to economic problems.

For example, is the DoLE monitoring and counting the "new unemployed," or the additional underemployed?

What is Congress doing to offer assistance and stimulus to help generate income and employment?

The Philippine Congress, as presently composed and performing, is an embarrassment, wasteful, increasingly irrelevant, and doing a disservice to the nation.

When all is said and done, the nation is fortunate that is there is somebody focusing on the economy without fanfare and without let up, and the fundamentals are in place.

You be the judge. (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)