Disneyland Philippines in Clark Pampanga is Great News

"MALACAÑANG sees no reason to block Pampanga Rep. Carmelo Lazatin’s proposal to have a Disneyland at Clark Freeport." (source)

I'm not really sure if this is the official photo, I just saw it in Facebook

What do they mean they see no reason? Of course! They shouldn't even have authority to block any sort of investment. This should be for the people of Pampanga and property owners to decide. 

We need to rethink these kinds of centralized authority we give to national government and give back sovereignty to local governments. This will allow for competitive policy. Sort of like that charter cities idea of Paul Romer I wrote about before (see Paul Romer talks about Charter Cities at TED).

There should be this right for local governments to lower tax and minimize red tapes if they want to instead of the national government dictating the rules. Although it's unlikely for this kind of policy to happen because it will lower corruption revenue, if even one local government decides to do this and there is progress others can copy the same model. Also, if there are failed policies, not everyone as a whole is affected. This is what I mean by competitive public policy. 

We should really think about decentralizing government. Although historically, even decentralized governments grow too big anyway, it's still much better than giving so much authority into just one central unit of government. Along with some kind of tangible transparency program (see Freedom of Information Bill in the Philippines), it will be much easier to contain localized power that is accountable to local people instead a national government governing for all.

That being said, I do find the parliamentary system quite favorable but not really a necessary change since we can also copy the state's rights model in the US. Either way, the goal is that we take money and power from the government and give it back to the people. Surely there is a need for charter change and give the right to local governments to enact any sort of pro-market reforms. Problem is that a constitutional assembly here in the Philippines will most likely be filled with people hungry for power and even a bunch of actors or actresses that don't even have the slightest ideas about economics, law, and political science or philosophy (or maybe those with philosophies that are against freedom and liberty).

I think I have mentioned before that there really is so much unused space here in the Philippines and that we should decentralize imperial manila and give back power to provinces so that there will be development. Many times these investors themselves will be the ones handling infrastructure needs. Just look at the amazing development in The Fort in Taguig. That land used to be government owned but in the hands of the market and private sector, tons of jobs were created and there is growth and progress. There is even an example in Gurgaon city in India where there was no need for government intervention whatsoever (see Gurgaon City in India — growth and progress when there is absence of government).

Anyway, I've gone so far from the topic I intended to write about haha. Yes, Disneyland is great news. These kinds of theme parks are usual indicators of economic growth and national security. If we look at the Index of Economic Freedom, you'll see that theme parks like Disneyland or Universal Studios or others usually choose to invest and develop in the more economically free countries. Aside from the businesses and jobs this kind of investment will be able to create, tourists will also see that its quite safe to travel to the Philippines because institutions are putting trust in our economy and national security.