experience of developed countries affirms the necessity at some point of a fairly long period of fundamental domestic economic policy reform measures. For a country in a stage of underdevelopment and of a size such as the Philippines this involves agraian reform and building national industry. Labor export and remittances can play a role as a supplementary source of income and foreign exchange yet, on the contrary it appears to have become a cornerstone of development strategy. Aplausible reason for this is that labor export does not threaten any entrenched domestic interests nor conflict with economic interests of foreign corporations - as for example land reform or national industrial2ation would. The resistance of landlords to agrarian reform and of foreigndependent agricultural, industrial and service interests are among the local barriers to major policy reforms, aside from the influence exerted by foreign governments and international financial institutions. At the same time a steady flow of Filipinos going abroad and remittances make it convenient for the government to pay less attention to domestic unemployment, underenployment and inequality. Migration requires relatively low government 'investment'to take place. By its nature as the exercise of individual choice, albeit forced by circumstance, migration does not in and of itself require much government 'investment' and will occur even if the state does not devote substantial economic, financial, administrative and political resources. The natural economic 'compulsion' of many Filipinos to seek work wherever they can to survive does not require any strategic government thinking, planning or intervention. It is also notable how the migration phenomenon has more or less spontaneously spawned a vast industry of related services such as recruiters and remittance services as well as created profitable opportunities for other private sector actors such as banks, real estate developers, telecommunication firms and malls - again, with little need for government attention. The Philippines also has the cultural particularity of "colonial mentality'' resulting from centuries of colonial rule that unduly disparages the local and glorifies the foreign which predisposes Filipinos to going abroad, especially to the richer Northern countries. III. Migration amidst Global Crisis: Hazards The global crisis and migration The present economic downturn is likely to be protracted. The world capitalist economy is undergoing its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In June 2009,the United Nations (UN) estimated that world income per capita could drop by 3.7yo this year. The World Bank's latest forecast is that global GDP will fall by 2.9%o and world trade by nearly l0% n 2009. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in turn sees world output falling by 1.4 percent. The World Trade Organzation (VVTO) meanwhile sees a l0olo plunge in global merchandise trade while the IIN sees an ll% fall which would be the largest decline since the 1930s. 20