IN a surprising move last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) 49 creating the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA) and appointing businessman Frederick Go as its secretary. While business groups and analysts have been fulsome in their approval of the new arrangement and Secretary Go's qualifications, there has also been a substantial amount of criticism leveled at both Go and the President. This is unwarranted, and is perhaps the product of a stagnant and diffident mindset about the function of government and people in it.