Posts Tagged ‘economy’
By 2050, Mexico Will Be a World Leader
4:05 pm By Maegan La Mala · business|Latin America|mexico|Money|World · Comments Off
5 Jun 2008
It may sound like a long way away, but according to Mexican president Felipe Calderon, by the year 2050 Mexico will be the world’s 5th most important economy. These claims were made before a group of businessmen at a conference this week organized by The Economist magazine, and Calderon said that he believes that Mexico will reach the lofty goal “if the right decisions are made.”
Calderon’s predictions would put Mexico in 5th place after China, the U.S., India and Brasil.
The current ranking has Mexico ranked as number 15; the current number 1 is the U.S., followed by Japan, Germany, China and the U.K.
Via / Milenio
Ford Wants a Mexican Fiesta
4:21 pm By Maegan La Mala · business|Latin America|mexico|Money · Comments Off
2 Jun 2008
How many of us have chuckled at the ridiculousness of the name carmaker Ford gave one of its low-end cars — the “Fiesta”? Well that little piece of metal’s name will be a little more authentic, as the car will now be built in Mexico, a change that The Christian Science Monitor calls “a blow for Detroit”:
But for Mexico, Friday’s announcement – which has been heralded as the largest manufacturing investment in the country’s history – is a decisive feat.President Felipe Calderón called the $3 billion deal a “turning point.”
While the US automaking industry sags – undergoing massive restructuring and downsizing – Mexico’s production has expanded, especially for small, low-cost vehicles. Last year, Mexico produced a record number – over 2 million – and analysts forecast that by the year 2015 production could at least double.
The CSM says that the production of these smaller vehicles could position Mexico as a center for fuel efficient cars, bringing back some of the money lost as manufacturing jobs have moved to China.
Via / Christian Science Monitor
2008 Will Be a Tough Year for Mexico
24 Dec 2007
Predictions of a recession in the U.S. in the coming year has experts in Mexico forecasting a bumpy ride for that country in 2008. The Center for Research of Private Sector Economy (CEESP) of Mexico says that the country’s dependence on the U.S. will have a negative impact on the economy:
“…2008 is looking ‘complex, because the strong dependence of our country on the productive mechanisms of the United states will mean huge risks if the weakness of our Northern neighbor gets worse.”According to the document, the prediction that the U.S. will slow growth in the last trimester of the year, with the possibility of falling into recession, has created a complex context for Mexico’s economy.
Other contributing factors for the dismal outlook (according to the CEESP only 19% of economists in Mexico predict a change for the better for business) are rising fuel costs and the high prices of international goods.
As they say, when the U.S. sneezes, Mexico gets a cold. And if 2008 plays out the way economists predict it will, the bad economy in Mexico will inevitably impact immigration, as poorer Mexicans leave their homes to find a better life in the U.S.
Via / La Jornada
Food prices in Mexico skyrocket
9 Oct 2007The price of the “canasta básica” — the most common staple items in the Mexican diet, such as tortillas, bolillos (bread rolls), tomatoes and sugar — has shot up 35% in just one week. This image from Mexico’s cámara de diputados speaks to the division between Mexican legislators for letting this happen.
The massive jump in prices shown on the posters — “Tortillas, 7 pesos per kilo when this administration began; today, 8.50.” “A kilo of beef steak, from 58 to 72 pesos. A kilo of sugar, from 15 to 28 pesos” — has occurred in just a few days, and will leave Mexican families with limited resources devastated. Even worse, the price of gas and transportation (called el gasolinazo) though postponed for now, is expected to take effect in the beginning of next year.
Via / La Jornada
Mexico City: “City of the Future”
5:02 pm By Maegan La Mala · business|Media|mexico|Newspapers · Comments Off
10 Aug 2007
British newspaper The Financial Times has named Mexico City one of the its “Ten Cities of the Future”, after analyzing 108 cities in North America to create their list of cities with potential for economic competitiveness and ability to attract investments.
Mexico City ranked fourth out of the top five cities with the best economic potential and fourth among the top five most cost-effective cities.
The Editor of The Financial Times, Brian Caplen, presented Mexico City’s Mayor Marcelo Ebrard with a certificate of recognition, and said “Mexico City has done a lot and is doing a lot to increase its potential to attract direct foreign investment worldwide and that’s why it deserves a place among North America’s ‘Cities of the Future’.”
La Jornada newspaper reports that according to The Financial Times‘ ranking, Mexico City’s economy outranks those of Miami and Boston.
Via / La Jornada
Latin American countries experiencing job growth
2:45 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina|Labor|Latin America|Peru · Comments Off
25 Jun 2007
Latin American countries traditionally plagued by unemployment and weak economies are beginning to experience a notable level of job growth, according to Forbes.com’s list of “The World’s Hottest Job Markets”, based on Manpower’s quarterly Global Employment Outlook. The South American countries ranked in the Top 5 for job growth: Peru and Argentina:
Manpower’s quarterly Global Employment Outlook, which surveyed over 50,000 employers across 27 countries, ranked Peru No. 2 and Argentina No. 4 in expected job growth for the July-September quarter. The firm scored each country by subtracting the percentage of companies that said they plan to cut back on workers from the percentage that said they plan to add them. A country where 75% of employers plan to add to their workforces and 25% plan to cut them, for example, scores +50%. Peru rated +48%, while Argentina weighed in at +38%.
Experts say that the rub is in whether or not this growth is sustainable. Number one on the list is Singapore, while the U.S. barely made the ranking, coming in at number 10.
Via / Forbes.com
Texas: Immigrants contribute to state, cost local government
1:42 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Money|Texas · Comments Off
8 Dec 2006
The Texas state comptroller’s office has released a report that will satisfy and disappoint those on both sides of the immigration debate. It seems that in the state of Texas, undocumented immigrants
“have boosted the state’s economy by $17.7 billion and haven’t been a drain on state government.”
The downside? The same report says that they cost local governments $929 million in 2005.
Fear of deportation makes immigrants spend less
7:34 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · houston|Immigration|Money|Texas · Comments Off
24 May 2006
The Houston Chronicle has a very interesting piece today about the economic impact of recent raids against undocumented immigrants in the Latino goods and services sector in Houston. Apparently people are leaving their houses less, some have left their jobs and others are stashing away cash out of fear of they’ll be the among the next group of rounded-up immigrants. The impact is being felt mostly by businesses that cater to the Latino immigrant population in Houston:
Although temperatures are rising, sales of paletas are not.Carlos Gonzalez said his sales are half of what they should be during this peak season when his mostly Hispanic customers traditionally try to stave off the heat with the fruit-flavored frozen treats.
“It has gone down a lot,” said Gonzalez at an international bus station on Harrisburg Boulevard where he stopped his paleta cart to sell to passengers. “People are afraid to go to work.”
Across Houston, some small businesses that cater to the Hispanic immigrant community are reporting a sales slump that began last month after federal agents swept through pallet company IFCO Systems, detaining undocumented immigrants.
Read the whole article at Chron.com.
Via / The Houston Chronicle
Could the boycott backfire?
9:46 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Immigration|Money · 1 Comment
26 Apr 2006
That’s what the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, and others, are saying, according to AP:
Mexicans’ refusal to “buy American” on May 1 could further polarize the debate and make reform supporters seem anti-American at the very moment that lobbyists are trying to persuade lawmakers in Washington to pass a bill that would benefit migrants, worries Larry Rubin, the chamber’s president.“This is like shooting oneself in the foot,” Rubin said. “U.S. companies have been the first to lobby, launching a huge lobbying effort for immigration reform. … Why hurt something that is helping you?”
Um, okay…if you think that U.S. businesses are going to suddenly pull out of Mexico over one day of lost revenue, you are smoking crack. There is too much money to be made there. An example from the article:
Unskilled workers at U.S. companies usually start with Mexico’s minimum wage of $4.35 a day. While many earn more, such as seamstresses making an average of $5.89 a day — even these wages pale in comparison to paychecks offered by the same companies north of the border, conceded the chamber’s Humberto Banuelos.A cashier at Subway (or “sandwich artist,” as the company refers to them) earns about $189 a month in Mexico City. In Colorado, Subway cashiers make four times that — $824.
You call that helping? I wonder what “hurting” looks like. I think I’d rather help myself.
Via / FOXNews.com
Photo via Pravda.ru
Mobilizing for fair immigration
9:05 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Immigration · Comments Off
23 Mar 2006
Tens of thousands Latinos and supporters took to the streets today in Milwaukee to protest against harsher immigration legislation:
“We want to be treated with equality”, Hernández added. Some 90 businesses, run by Latin Americans in the southern sector of the city were closed during the day or for several hours in support of the protest.
The protestors are opposed to legislation, approved in December by the House of Representatives that would make being in the USA illegally a crime.
Accordingly, employers who take on illegal immigrants would be subject to new sanctions and the law would provide support for the construction of a wall along a third of the border with Mexico.
Meanwhile, Latino business owners in Atlanta are calling for a boycott which would shut the doors of their businesses tomorrow, to protest new immigration legislation in Georgia:
“They’ll see what type of effect it would have on the economy if they would take us all, like they say, ship us to Mexico or Guatemala or El Salvador,” Covarrubias said.
Community leaders say it’s a way to force Metro Atlanta to recognize the importance of Latin workers.
Business leaders have organized, and are encouraging Latin immigrants living in Metro Atlanta to spend their Friday without spending at all.
In understand the not spending, but shutting one’s own business seems a bit counter-productive to me.
Photo via Channel 11 Atlanta
Via / Daily Journal and Channel 11 Atlanta
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