Center for Market Education

22/09/2026

“Budget 2027 should concentrate on creating the conditions for private-sector expansion – lower regulatory barriers, greater competition, easier investment, stronger incentives for entrepreneurship, predictable taxation, openness to foreign investment and policies that facilitate business consolidation and scaling up,” Dr Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education, told The Sun.

15/09/2026

A new Center for Market Education study estimates that illicit to***co trade is costing Asia-Pacific governments nearly USD 15 billion in lost tax revenue, showing that the issue is not merely one of enforcement, but also of taxation, incentives and fiscal policy design.

Our latest media statement ( https://marketedu.me/illicit-to***co-trade-costs-asia-pacific-governments-nearly-usd-15-billion-in-lost-revenue-new-cme-study-finds/ ) highlights why governments should look beyond statutory tax rates and focus instead on actual revenue collection, preservation of the legal tax base, enforcement capacity and illicit-market pe*******on. In markets where taxation increasingly pushes consumers toward illegal alternatives, higher taxes may end up undermining the very fiscal objectives they are intended to achieve.

The full paper can be downloaded here:https://marketedu.me/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/202608-Policy-Paper-No-12-Illicit-Tobacco-Trade-in-Asia-Pacific.pdf

09/09/2026

Before We Speak of Market Failure, We Must Ask: Failure Relative to What?

The real problem with the market-failure/state-failure debate is determining whether the benchmark against which “failure” is measured can exist outside the very market process we are trying to judge

The real problem with the market-failure/state-failure debate is determining whether the benchmark against which “failure” is measured can exist outside the very market process we are trying to judge

08/09/2026

Economics, books & pizza. 🍕📚

Because good ideas are even better over good food.
Join us for an afternoon with Dr. Carmelo Ferlito (Center for Market Education), exploring ideas from his latest books on economics, political economy and human flourishing.

📅 12 September 2026 | 3–5 PM
📍 Luretta DOP Ristorante Pizzeria @ 1 Utama, New Wing
💰 RM25++ — inclusive of pizza & one glass of w**e 🍷
Limited seats available — book your spot!

📲 DM / contact +60 16-910 9133 - or scan the QR Code - for reservations.

05/09/2026

What if the great battles in have produced rather different winners from those we usually recognize?

In his latest Substack article, Dr Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education, argues that the School may have quietly won the methodological battle within contemporary economics, while — now increasingly dressed as industrial policy, strategic autonomy and techno-mercantilism — has proved remarkably victorious in the world of economic .

Perhaps Schmoller and the mercantilists had a much longer afterlife than the standard history of economic thought suggests.

Read the article: https://carmeloferlito.substack.com/p/the-two-victors-economics-refuses

02/09/2026

Many thanks to Sarawak Tribune and Eszryeen Kris for the extensive coverage of Center for Market Education's views on Malaysia’s fuel subsidy reform.

The key message is simple: quotas and subsidies should be temporary tools, not permanent features of the economy. The long-term objective should be market-determined fuel prices, allowing prices to perform their essential signalling function, while vulnerable households are supported directly and transparently during the transition.

A gradual and clearly communicated transition can give households and businesses the time they need to adjust, while strengthening Malaysia’s fiscal position and creating room for more productive public expenditure.

Carmelo Ferlito

01/09/2026

Petrol subsidies do not eliminate inflationary pressures; they merely shift their point of origin and where their effects ultimately appear in the economy.

Many thanks to Sarawak Tribune and Medecci Lineil for the extensive coverage of the Center for Market Education’s position on the importance of the price mechanism and the distortionary effects of subsidies.

Carmelo Ferlito

01/09/2026

A short reflection on how René Guénon’s "Reign of Quantity" can help us read the evolution of economics: from understanding human action and historical time toward measurement, econometrics, and the growing dominance of quantity. Is this economics’ own Kali Yuga?

https://carmeloferlito.substack.com/p/the-kali-yuga-of-economics

26/08/2026

Following a recent press release by the Center for Market Education (CME) ( https://marketedu.me/cme-malaysias-money-supply-growth-returns-to-covid-era-pace-as-inflation-risks-re-emerge/ ), our CEO, Dr Carmelo Ferlito, spoke with Bernama about recent trends in Malaysia’s money supply, producer prices, and consumer price inflation.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7hNfHZAi04

BERNAMA WORLD26TH AUGUST 2026 | WEDNESDAYTOPIC:MALAYSIA'S INFLA...

17/08/2026

Center for Market Education: Malaysia’s Money Supply Growth Returns to Covid-Era Pace as Inflation Risks Re-Emerge

MONDAY 17 AUGUST 2026 – The Center for Market Education (CME) warns that Malaysia’s latest monetary and price data are beginning to show a combination that warrants close attention: money supply growth is accelerating back toward rates last seen during the Covid period, while producer prices are rising rapidly and consumer-price inflation, although still comparatively moderate, may be starting to reflect those pressures only gradually.

Full media statement: https://marketedu.me/cme-malaysias-money-supply-growth-returns-to-covid-era-pace-as-inflation-risks-re-emerge/