[hartpuff]

> The math is grim.

The math is grim for the poorest people in any country.

> That's it. That's the economy.

The economy of one of the biggest consumer markets in Asia is people earning $3/day and blowing $2 of it on transport, SMS and internet?

[gexla]

Not far off if you throw lunch in there as well. It's growing fast though. The area I'm living in went from relatively quiet with few cars on the road to serious traffic problems in probably 5 years (pulling from memory). Some of that might be increased shopping options in the city pulling in regional shoppers who previously didn't have as much of a need to be in the city. It's hard to say without real numbers though.

Maybe I'm just hanging with the wrong crowd, but pretty much everyone (locals) I know has bare bones possessions. The head of the household has a T.V. and a fridge as an addition to my list. That's friends, family and neighborhood.

There is a lot of money coming in through remittances. Getting money coming in as a basic income (not work) doesn't seem to do much for the work ethic from my experience. Often these remittances are covering a large family with basic living expenses.

I don't have much more than anecdotal evidence, but the profile of a typical person here is way different than that of where I came from (US).

[hartpuff]

If you're living in an area where having a fridge and TV is rare or unusual, if I understand you correctly, then I'd say you're living in a very poor area, not a 'typical' or even average place.

[gexla]

I'm not saying it's rare or unusual. Just that it's on the short list of what people own. People here aren't big consumers. Not the typical household like in the US where people have houses overflowing with crap (and much of that crap being things you can't even get in the Philippines.)