Loose Change by Ben Kritz EARLIER this week someone asked me a question he didn’t intend to be offensive, but nevertheless came across as...
Loose Change
by Ben Kritz
EARLIER this week someone asked me a question he didn’t intend to be offensive, but nevertheless came across as a bit insulting: Why do I write this column? The implication, of course, was that this is rather unimportant compared to what I normally do, and perhaps not worth the one morning a week I set aside for it.
As I said, I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be rude; the person who asked is a friend, and I can understand the impression he must have. Although I don’t normally think of myself that way, to some people I’m kind of a big deal. Apart from my “normal” job – the one everyone sees – of writing a business column three days a week for The Manila Times, I also help them with other research and editorial tasks; for instance, I am currently investigating two major subjects that will be the subject of a series of special reports for that paper in the near future. Outside of the newspaper, I develop marketing and “white paper” (that is, explaining things to non-technical readers and potential investors) material for businesses in the FinTech industry. And if all that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I’m working on writing a novel, which will be my second book if I ever manage to finish it.
My columns in The Manila Times have been quoted by the New York Times and can be found on the IPS and TNS global news wire services. I’ve written for The Huffington Post and the Japan Times. I’ve been interviewed at various times by ANC here in the Philippines, WION News in India, and CNN, Fox News, and National Public Radio in the US, and according to one academic database I subscribe to, articles and papers I’ve written in the past have been cited by other mostly academic publications more than 1,400 times.
As important as all that is, none of it matters more than what this paper, The Sentinel Times, actually represents. My world every other day of the week (except for Thursday mornings) is the big one, but I don’t actually live in that world, and neither do you. The world I know best fits within a circle that’s maybe a kilometer or so across, and contains my family, the neighbors on my street, the local stores and businesses where I spend most of my money. We need papers like this one to tell us what’s going on in those little circles we call home, and from my perspective, it’s papers like this that are the best place to explain how what goes on in that bigger world makes a practical difference to our everyday lives.
Dealing with the news and having the opportunity to make a change in the world on the level of entire economies and nations is a rare privilege, and I consider myself lucky to have the chance to be a part of it. But The Sentinel Times deals with what matters even more – real people with real lives that are affected by the larger world, and might not even know how or why without the hard work the people behind the paper do to bring it to you every week. That’s certainly worth one morning of my time every week, and then some.
Ben Kritz holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a former auto industry executive, and writes the thrice-weekly Rough Trade column on business and the economy for The Manila Times. You are welcome to send him your questions and comments at benkritz@outlook.com, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
EARLIER this week someone asked me a question he didn’t intend to be offensive, but nevertheless came across as a bit insulting: Why do I write this column? The implication, of course, was that this is rather unimportant compared to what I normally do, and perhaps not worth the one morning a week I set aside for it.
As I said, I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be rude; the person who asked is a friend, and I can understand the impression he must have. Although I don’t normally think of myself that way, to some people I’m kind of a big deal. Apart from my “normal” job – the one everyone sees – of writing a business column three days a week for The Manila Times, I also help them with other research and editorial tasks; for instance, I am currently investigating two major subjects that will be the subject of a series of special reports for that paper in the near future. Outside of the newspaper, I develop marketing and “white paper” (that is, explaining things to non-technical readers and potential investors) material for businesses in the FinTech industry. And if all that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I’m working on writing a novel, which will be my second book if I ever manage to finish it.
My columns in The Manila Times have been quoted by the New York Times and can be found on the IPS and TNS global news wire services. I’ve written for The Huffington Post and the Japan Times. I’ve been interviewed at various times by ANC here in the Philippines, WION News in India, and CNN, Fox News, and National Public Radio in the US, and according to one academic database I subscribe to, articles and papers I’ve written in the past have been cited by other mostly academic publications more than 1,400 times.
As important as all that is, none of it matters more than what this paper, The Sentinel Times, actually represents. My world every other day of the week (except for Thursday mornings) is the big one, but I don’t actually live in that world, and neither do you. The world I know best fits within a circle that’s maybe a kilometer or so across, and contains my family, the neighbors on my street, the local stores and businesses where I spend most of my money. We need papers like this one to tell us what’s going on in those little circles we call home, and from my perspective, it’s papers like this that are the best place to explain how what goes on in that bigger world makes a practical difference to our everyday lives.
Dealing with the news and having the opportunity to make a change in the world on the level of entire economies and nations is a rare privilege, and I consider myself lucky to have the chance to be a part of it. But The Sentinel Times deals with what matters even more – real people with real lives that are affected by the larger world, and might not even know how or why without the hard work the people behind the paper do to bring it to you every week. That’s certainly worth one morning of my time every week, and then some.
Ben Kritz holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a former auto industry executive, and writes the thrice-weekly Rough Trade column on business and the economy for The Manila Times. You are welcome to send him your questions and comments at benkritz@outlook.com, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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