The Philippine economy under Ramos: A comparative scorecard

This dissertation evaluates the economic policies and performance of then Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos between the years 1992 and 1997. The thesis of this case study is that the Ramos administration economic development strategy, based on well-established economic principles, contributed to the Philippine economy performing not only better under Ramos than under either Marcos or Aquino, but also better than the economies of the other ASEAN-4 countries during the six-year period. The economic indicators used do support the thesis that Ramos administration policies led to better economic performance than did the policies of either Marcos or Aquino, but they do not support the thesis that Ramos policies led to better performance than did the policies of the other ASEAN-4 countries. One reason for Ramos's inferior performance against the other ASEAN-4 countries might be the political strength of the Philippine oligarchy in the face of a Philippine government with comparatively weak "political capacity."...