Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc.

Welcome to Minimal Government, Philippines

We are an independent think tank advancing four core principles: small government, small taxes, free market, and individual freedom and responsibility. Related to these four principles, are our strong belief in private property rights and rule of law or rules that apply to everyone, no exception.

In a sense, MG is a philosophical movement attempting to change the dominant thinking in our people that many things in our lives – education, health care, housing, pension, sanitation, environmental protection, credit, savings for unemployment, agricultural development, etc. – should be government responsibility, not personal or parental or firm responsibility. Since many if not all of these are now “government social responsibility”, socializing these services has empowered the state to socialize as well our pockets, to confiscate a big portion of our incomes and savings in order to finance those socialized and collectivized responsibilities. In addition, government administrators have thought that they can intervene and regulate our lives in behalf of us, that we need their signatures and approval first before we engage in entrepreneurship, job creation, even repairing our house.

We believe that society will be more peaceful and dynamic if individuals, parents, firms and their voluntary organizations will assume more individual and voluntary responsibility of their lives, their families, and their communities. This is the essence of “civil society” – people who guard their individual freedoms by assuming more individual responsibilities. People who are afraid of responsibilities are afraid of freedom itself.

Lest we be misunderstood, we are not advocating zero government or the abolition of the state and all taxes. We believe there is an important role for government – to protect the lives, private properties and individual liberties of the citizens.

Coming Events

September 5, 2008

MG President Nonoy Oplas will be one of two speakers on the session,

"Public service in and out of government"

under the Alternative Choices of Lifestyle after Economics (ACLaE) project of the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE),
September 5, Friday, 10 to 11:30 am, UPSE, Diliman, Quezon City.

The other speaker will be Ms. Gladys Sta. Rita (Class 1984), the provincial administrator of the province of Bulacan for 2 decades under several Governors. She is also the author of the book, “Running a Bureaucracy”.

The purpose of the ACLaE is to introduce to the current Econ students some of the School's alumni who have pursued non-traditional but nonetheless productive careers after college. The ACLaE is part of the School's centennial celebration.

September 17, 2008*

MG-Social Research Center (SRC, UST) Symposium:
“Habits of Highly Effective Countries: What can the Philippines Learn?”

September 17, Wednesday, 9:00am
Tomas Aquinas Resource Complex
University of Santo Tomas
Espana Blvd., Manila

Speakers:
Barun Mitra, Director, Liberty Institute, New Delhi, India
Alec van Gelder, Network Director, International Policy Network, London, UK
Dr. Emmanuel Lopez, Chairman, Department of Social Sciences, UST, Manila, Philippines

MG-Program in Development Economics (PDE, UPSE) Symposium:

“Improving access to health: should government intervene more?”

September 17, Wednesday, 2:00 pm
University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE)
Rm 111, Diliman, Quezon City

Speakers:
Barun Mitra, Director, Liberty Institute, New Delhi, India
Alec van Gelder, Network Director, International Policy Network, London, UK
Dr. Aleli de la Paz-Kraft, Associate Professor, UPSE, Quezon City, Philippines

* Both events are open to the public, no registration fee.

csccc report 

The Civil Society Report on Climate Change

Produced by the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change which seeks to educate the public about the science and economics of climate change in an impartial manner. It was established as a response to the many biased and alarmist claims about human-induced climate change, which are being used to justify calls for intervention and regulation.


ipri report

2008 International Property Rights Index

The 2008 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is an international comparative study that measures the significance of both physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being. In order to incorporate and grasp the important aspects related to property rights protection, the Index focuses on three areas: Legal and Political Environment (LP), Physical Property Rights (PPR), and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The current study analyzes data for 115 countries around the globe, representing ninety-six percent of world GDP. Of great importance, the 2008 gauge incorporates data of PR protection from various sources, often directly obtained from expert surveys within the evaluated countries.

2008 International Property Rights Index (Complete Report)