In this article written soon after the People Power revolt, political economist William Overholt comprehensively analyzes the conditions that led to rise of Marcos, Martial Law and the eventual decline of his regime, focusing primarily on economic reforms and its effects on political stability.
Overholt, William H. “The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos.” Asian Survey 26, no. 11 (1986): 1137–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/2644313.
Ricardo Manapat narrates in full detail the “infrastructure of plunder” that institutionalized cronyism and kleptocracy in Ferdinand E. Marcos’ government. Manapat’s research exposes how the state weaponized its political advantage in order to intervene in economic affairs which benefitted a select few within the dictator’s circle, at the expense of many Filipinos who toiled in poverty.
Manapat, Ricardo. Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2020.
The second Essential Truths Booklet released by the Human Rights Violations Memorial Commission (HRVVMC) focuses on the Philippine Economy during the Martial Law Years. The discussion of whether or not the former Marcos Administration was a “Golden Era” of the Philippines is deconstructed against actual statistical evidence and review. Examination reveals that the imposition of Martial Law was in fact a “dark age of Philippine Economy”, featuring abuses of governance meant to enrich the Marcos Clique. Martial Law is noted to have left a negative impact on the nation’s overall development – particularly in poverty reduction and inflation.
Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (2022). Essential Truths About 1972-1986 Martial Law Era – The Economy During the Martial Law Era (2nd ed). Quezon City: Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Papers on the state of the Philippine economy under Marcos by some of the most important political economists in the country. Their report embodies the results of a series of workshops on the economic crisis under Martial Law, held between November 1983 and May 1984, in which interested faculty members of the University of the Philippines School of Economics participated. Topics ranged from fiscal policy to unemployment as well as recommendations for solving the crisis.
De Dios, Emmanuel S. (ed.). An Analysis of the Philippine Economic Crisis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1986.
This book analyzes the Philippine economy from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period, the benefits of economic growth conspicuously failed to “trickle down.” Despite rising per capita income, broad sectors of the Filipino population experienced deepening poverty. Boyce traces this outcome to the country’s economic and political structure and focuses on three elements of the government’s development strategy: the “green revolution” in rice agriculture, the primacy accorded to export agriculture and forestry, and massive external borrowing.
Boyce, James K. The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
