Illegal Immigration

This will be my last blog for the semester which is sad, but this last blog should be very interesting. As you all may know illegal immigration in Mexico is huge problem we have been faced with for awhile. There are pros and cons to each economy due to illegal immigration which would include Mexico's economy and America's economy. The busiest border is between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. Many cars and trucks are lined up to cross the border to enter the United States. Also there are people on the Mexican side of the border waiting to see the border agents to lose attention. There are more people as the day goes on including children women and men waiting to cross the border illegally. Most of the time illegal immigrants will enter the United States and stay after their legal visas are expired. Eventually they will find a place to live and find work, but they will defiantly not be free forever from being caught.

The economies of each country do have their pros to illegal immigration and cons. Some of the pros for America include a good source for cheap labor. The reason they take cheap labor is due to the lack of their paperwork. Some cheap labor jobs would include garment factories, manual laborers and harvesting crops. Cons for the America would be the they cost the economy more money in taxes. The strain of the overpopulation would be considered a pro for Mexico's economy with illegal immigration. I hope you have learned a lot from my blog about Mexico and you can use it in one of your trips to this amazing country!

Agriculture of Mexico

Mexico is known for many things including their great food. We all wonder where it comes from and what types of vegetables and spices come from the ground to provide the great taste of their delicious food. According to to
http://www.economywatch.com/ Mexico is considered one of the biggest agricultural producing countries in the world. Agriculture is very important to the income of this country and in the end Mexico's GDP has greatly increased. Some of the crops that Mexico produces and is famous for includes, onions, avocados, limes, lemons and chayote. Fruit is also one of the leading crops found in Mexico, the country has the perfect weather which has made a big impact on the country. Many of the different fruits grown include, oranges and mangoes.

According to www.nationsencyclopedia.com in 1999 sugarcane, corn, wheat, and beans were the top crops produced in the world in Mexico. Sugarcane 45.81 billion tons, corn 15.72 billion tons, wheat 3 billion tons and beans 1.04 billion tons. Also there are 3 reasons why Mexico is has had much success when it comes to producing crops. One of the reasons is because of the excessive land they have to grow crops. Reason two is the different changes in land ownership in the country. Third the government has a program that pays farmers directly and the farmers can produce the crops they want to produce.

Water of Mexico

As many of you know, when traveling to the country Mexico you should always be careful of the tap water that you may be drinking. If you were not aware of this fact, keep reading because in the end it will keep you away from a horrible 24-48 hour sickness. The water of Mexico is contained of many single cell organisms which can be harmful to body's that are not used to it, these organisms are referred to as parasites. These parasites are used to being swallowed by humans they actually even like it. In the end they will use the body as a home and make the person ill for at least 24-48 hours. The symptoms include violent vomiting, diarrhea and sometimes a fever. The story behind this parasite infested drinking water is referred to as the "Montezumas's Revenge". Montezuma would rudely repay his visitors from Spain with this horrible illness. Ways to prevent this is to obviously not drink the tap water from Mexico. Also if you are going to get water at a resturaunt order a sealed bottle. Another is to be careful when ordering ice cubes in your drinks. When brushing teeth and washing face use bottles of water.

www.cancunsouth.com

Drug Trafficking in Mexico

The blog for this week, is going to focus on the problem of the illegal drug trade in Mexico. Although Mexico is not the producer of the illegal drugs, it is a prime transport route to the United States. Many smugglers go through the border and even along the east and west coasts of Mexico's sea routes. According to Council on Foreign Relations, in 2006 the president of Mexico sent thousands of troops to subdue the drug related violence. Also 90 percent of the cocaine that is brought into the United States goes through Mexico. There are at least 116 million vehicles that come through the Canada and Mexico border smuggling illegal drugs into the United States. The Mexican border is the primary place where the cocaine is entered into the United States acordding to Almanac of Policy Issues.

A big threat to the United States is Mexican Heroine. This drug has been around for decades and is becoming more and more of a trouble for the U.S. Also Mexican Marijuana has been smuggled into the United States since the 1970's. This drug is smuggled in vehicles of different kinds, some including commercial vehicles, trucks, vans and even mobile homes. Bigger loads of this drug is smuggled in tractor-trailers. And sometimes is imported through boats through the coast of Mexico and dropped off on the ports of the U.S.

www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/drug trafficking_.shtml

www.cfr.org

History of Mexico

Well it has been awhile since my last blog update. This week I am going to catch everyone up on the history of Mexico and the reason it is one of the largest populated areas in the world. In the early beginning of Mexico's ancient history came from the Olmecs. They worshiped a jaguard God, and built many cities. There are a lot of other little groups that followed the Olmecs, some are the Maya's, Aztec's, Teotihuacan's and many more.The start of it all came from Cortes conquering Mexico and founded the biggest Spanish colony that lasted for 300 years. The Independence from Spain was received on September 16, 1810, which is now considered a holiday for all Mexicans called "Dia de la Independencia". During the time that Mexico was experimenting with a democracy run government, it was interrupted with the invasion of the French. What triggered this invasion was the disagreement of the present monarchy based governemnt who was the Austrian emperor. In 1867 he was overthrown and executed. The PRI (the Partido Revolucionario Institutuional ) was a single political party in 1928. These PRi canidates are hand picked by the president. The first non PRI canidate was in 1997 and he was elected as mayor.

As for the overpopulation of Mexico, there are many effects to it. This could impose social, pollution, and economic problems. One of the effects is, unemployment. As a result of this some will not be able to support their own families. As for the economic problem, some effects are the shortages of public services. Shortages of water and food will cause starvation of many Mexicans. There also isn't enough teachers or schools for children. Also hospitals which keep people safe and healthy. Pollution is a huge problem in the country of Mexico, the overpopulated country causes much traffic from public transoprts and cars. As a result pollution can cause diseases which have a chance of not being cured because of the shortages of public services, which include hospitals.

www.overpopulation.org

www.geographia.com/mexico/mexicohistory.htm

Business in Mexico

For week 7 of my blog about Mexico I'm going to be talking about the businesses in Mexico. In the business world of Mexico, Mexican people make friends first, then do business. They think a relationship should be developed first. Closing a deal over the phone in any business in Mexico isn't likely, most Mexicans like to look people in the eye when closing a deal. This goes back to having a personal relationship before doing business. The meeting formats of Mexican businesses aren't anything like the U.S.'s, there are no checklists or orderliness. Also when doing business in Mexico, producers need to think about what the Mexican consumers really love. When launching a new product to consumers, they like the touchy feely type of promotions. This would include the in store samples, the free trial packets or even free gifts. Television, radio and billboards are the more popular type of advertisements just like the U.S.

Many businesses in Mexico have different hours. Offices are usually from 8am-5pm, factories usually have 24 hour shifts, and banks are from usually 8am-7pm according to http://www.mexexperience.com/. Their lunch breaks are very different from the U.S., their lunch breaks are anywhere from 1pm-4pm. Why so late you ask? Its because of the differences in the time they eat. Lunch is more of like a lunch/dinner to us. Dinner usually doesn't take place until at least 9pm. Being on time isn't something to be wrapped up in, in Mexico. Most timing in Mexico is considered to be very flexible even in business. Last, but not least the dress code in Mexican business. Many Mexican business persons will dress in suits and ties. I hope my post as given you some idea of the way business is run in the country of Mexico. Until next week!

Mexico's Exports and Imports

For this weeks blog I'm going to talk about the leading imports and exports of Mexico. The definition of import is to bring in merchandise, commodities, etc. from foreign countries for use or sale. An export is to ship merchandise, commodities, etc to other countries for sale, exchange, etc. As I have said before in my previous blogs, the U.S. is one of Mexico's top exporters and importers. According to Foreign Trade Statistics, Mexico exported $198.3 billion dollars worth of merchandise in 2006. That is 16.5% more merchandise than the year 2005. Some of the leading exports to the U.S. are crude oil, car parts, computers, engines and parts and other goods.

In 2006 $134.2 billion dollars worth of merchandise had been imported to U.S. from Mexico. Some of the leading imports are plastics, car parts, industrial machines, and other goods. Other countries that are main import partners are Japan and China. China imports electromechanical equipment, household appliances, textiles and high-tech products. I hope I have enlightened you on some of the countries Mexico trades with and some of the materials that are imported and exported between countries.

Money in Mexico

This week in Economics we talked about money. According to my notes money is any commodity or token that is generally accepted as means of payment. In this weeks blog I will be talking about the money in Mexico. Mexican money is referred to as "pesos". One peso is worth 100 Mexican cents (centavos). Mexican banks print bills in 20 50 100 200 500 and 1000 pesos. There are many different banks in Mexico, Scotiabank, Inverlat, Banamex/Citibank, and BBVA - Bancomer being the largest.

Banco de Mexico is considered the central bank to Mexico. Banco de Mexico is translated into the Bank of Mexico as you can probably already tell . The main jobs of this central bank is to provide currency to the domestic economy according to http://www.banxico.org/. Like the Federal Reserve in America, regulate payment systems, operate as the last resort for credit institutuions. They also operate central banks with financial issues.

Capital of Mexico, Mexico City

This weeks blog will be about the capital of Mexico, which is Mexico City or La Ciudad de Mexico. Mexico City is very economically important to Latin America. As we have been learning in class GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which means the value of all the final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. How this correlates with Mexico City is that, this city produces around 21.8% Gross Domestic Product of the country according to http://www.mexicocity.com/v/economy/. This city has the largest amount of banks, insures and includes the Mexican stock exchange called Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. This translates to the Mexican Stock Exchange. Mexico City also has the 30th most largest economy of all cities in the world today.

Another important fact for Mexico is the vehicle industry is growing at a very rapid pace. In Mexico City you can travel by taxi, bus subway or motor vehicle. They also have many parades and celebrations due to Cinco de Mayo the celebration of victory from the French, Dia de la the Independencia the War of Independence and many more. Mexico City has more to offer than one can see until you visit. I have been to this city many times and it is a wonderful place to site see and spend a week visiting.

Unemployment in Mexico

As we learned in economics this week, many countries including Mexico undergo high unemployment rates. As I write this blog, I will be talking about the different types of unemployment and how they effect the country's economy. According to http://www.universia.net/, the unemployment rate in Mexico has shot up from .72% to about 3.8% in the past five years. As we learned in class, the term underemployed means people whom would like to find a full time job but can only find part time. As this term coordinates with the fact that a recent graduate in a Mexico city has any chance of finding a full-time job that meets the standards of the degree they have received.

There are four types of unemployment we discussed in our class this week, they include seasonal, frictional, structural and cyclical. The most popular type of unemployment in Mexico is cyclical. Many employed Mexicans are either fired because of a cut in salaries due to the shortage of money in a company. The lower salaries being given to Mexican workers is how large companies keep producing. In the end they can offer their customers competitive prices, according to Juan Castingts professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City. As the unemployment rate in Mexico is fairly high, it is considered to be a stable country today.

Facts Behind Mexico

My second blog about Mexico will contain how their country's government is run and also some facts about their economy. To start off Mexico's government is run as a presidential republic, where the president is head of state and government. Mexico also has a government that is divided into branches like ours, legislative, judicial, and executive. The country is divided into 31 states and each have one Governor that is given executive authority to that state.

As for the economy. Mexico has one of the most open trade systems in the world, depending on massive amounts of trade with the U.S. which brought 82% of its exports in 2007 according to Travel Document Systems. In 1994 Mexico joined The North American Free Trade Agreement which opened many new American and Canadian markets. Mexico is highly dependent on two things in their country today. First off their country is one of the largest oil producers in the world and also have a large amount of tourists per year.

First Entry

My name is Megan and this is my first time blogging ever. I am here because I have been assigned a country to blog about for my Macroeconomics class. What I will be writing about will correlate with what we are discussing in class. The country I have chosen is Mexico. The reason I have chosen this country is because my family is from here. Also it will be interesting to learn about the way my families country is run and how they manage their economic difficulties as compared to America. Hopefully you will find it as interesting as I do!