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.