OK, we're going to be communicating and learning some things in a different way. This is our first attempt. Post your response to the question: "What's happening in Mexico, Economically, Socially, and/or Politically?"
Your response can be audio, video, text, etc. Let me know what you found and learned.
19 comments:
Mexico’s population growth has severely strained services, which people in the United States may take for granted, especially education and health care. There growing population has placed pressure on the government and economy to create new jobs, which they have not been able to keep up with the increased numbers. Economic conditions have impelled many of skilled and unskilled workers to migrate north to the United States in search of jobs. This creates another problem, but the problem is now in the United States. Without the knowledge of our language and how the job market works it proves difficult for them to fully grasp our economy. Also, it’s difficult for legal citizens to find jobs when the Mexicans can be paid ‘under the table’ for their services.
Mexico’s population growth has severely strained services, which people in the United States may take for granted, especially education and health care. There growing population has placed pressure on the government and economy to create new jobs, which they have not been able to keep up with the increased numbers. Economic conditions have impelled many of skilled and unskilled workers to migrate north to the United States in search of jobs. This creates another problem, but the problem is now in the United States. Without the knowledge of our language and how the job market works it proves difficult for them to fully grasp our economy. Also, it’s difficult for legal citizens to find jobs when the Mexicans can be paid ‘under the table’ for their services.
In Mexico they have a federal republic government. There is an election ever six years and they are both the chief of staff and the head of government. The current president is different than who the president was in our textbook. The current president is Felipe Calderón who was elected in December of 2006. He is a member of the PAN group and he won by a very slim margin. In the book it said that the PRI was the dominate group but in this past election the group wasn't even in second place. The National Action Party is no longer seen as a party the got in the way of things but now is an accepted party.
http://www.mexidata.info/id87.html
https://cia.gov/cia//publications/factbook/geos/mx.html
Today in Mexico, drugs are a huge social problem. Mexican President Felipe Calderon would like for first time possession of small amounts of drugs decriminalized. These drugs range from marijuana to cocaine and methamphetamine. All of these drugs must be under the amount of 2 grams. However, those found dealing drugs will be heavily prosecuted. They are hoping that this decriminalization will allow resources to be placed fully on catching drug dealers. Leaders are placing stress on the fact that this is not a legalization of drugs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/mexico_drugs_law_dc;_ylt=AmrjjLdG1qDFZ229wqCao9Qdl.0A
After all of the debt that Mexico had gotten itself in after the oil was found, Mexico has been having money issues. They lowered the value of the peso twice and sold government property just so they could a little bit out of the hole. A multi-billion dollar amount of money was also given by Bill Clinton and the US in the 90's. Now, Mexico is doing better economically. The only problems they have at the moment are with jobs. There is more population than there are jobs. This is why so many illegal immigrants have come over to America, searching for work. This has created tension between US and Mexico, but has lessened ever since we legalized some of the illegal immigrants that had originally come over. Mexico has just recently elected a new president, Felipe Calderón. He is the first non-PRI president Mexico has had for the last 70 years. Now they have a federal republic government, and it is working for them. Drugs are also a big problem today in Mexico. A lot of the dangerous drugs are going to be less pressed down by the law, as long as it is under 2 grams. I believe this is wrong and Mexico's drug problem is just goign to go more downhill from here, but this is me speaking, and not Felipe Calderón.
In the last three months of 2006 Mexico’s economy slowed down severely. This may also cause consequences in the United States, for the hard times in Mexico are leading many to resort to crossing to border illegally into the US. In the final three months of 2005 Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product increased 4.3%. It was the third period of decline in the nation’s economic output, and quite a decline compared to the 5.5% increase that came about earlier in the year. This decline is due to a large slowdown of exports, and thus a lot of the blame is put on Mexico’s biggest export customer, the United States.
This is going to be a challenging year for Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon, who had promised a growth in economy and many more job opportunities. The economy of the United States is weakening and thus will in turn affect Mexico. Mexico’s inflation is rising and oil production is weakening. The US used to be an escape for the stressed Mexicans, but the recent tightening in security on the borders is making it much harder for Mexicans to enter illegally.
Unemployment in Mexico has skyrocketed as well prices on basic necessities. Millions rely on remittances sent from family members living abroad, so much that the remittances have become the second largest source of foreign exchange. Recently, Mexico began relying on manufacturing, which was beginning to increase over the course of the year, however, due to a sales slump in America, the manufacturing is not being much of a help to the economy. Oil, which is Mexico’s top source of foreign exchange, is going down. The price of petroleum is decreasing, meaning less money for Mexico. However, Mexico’s construction sector, which increased around 6% in the last quarter of 2006, should continue to be a good source for the economy. Credit will also keep the economy moving, extended amounts of credit card, auto loan, mortgage along with other credit, will increase consumer spending.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexico17feb17,1,2750169.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true
Mexico today, has a free market and export-oriented economy. Measured in purchasing power, its Gross Domestic Product recently exceeded the trillion dollars mark, making it the thirteenth largest economy in the world. Mexico is established as an upper middle-income country with the highest income per capita in Latin America. Mexico is the only Latin American country to be member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Mexico's economy is built from agriculture, industry, minerals/resources, and services. A large part of the services Mexico uses is tourism.
Tourism is one of the most important components to the Mexican economy. With 20 million tourists a year, Mexico is the eight most visited country in the world.
Mexico's government is run as a federation. There government is representative, republican, and democratic. Its based on a congressional system which is a three part government system just like the U.S. There is a legislative branch which includes the Senate and the chamber of deputies. The executive branch includes the President who has the same role as the President in the U.S. Last is the judicial which is the head court in Mexico. There are three main parties and they are the National Action Party which is conservative, Institutional Revolutionary Party which relates to a social democracy, and the Party of the Democratic Revolution which is liberal.
Currently Mexico and the U.S are freindly traders with each other. This is because the countries are neighbors. Mexico has the thirteenth largest economy in the world, with a Gross Domestic Product of over one trillion dollars. Mexico has the highest income per capita in Latin America. In the mid-90's nearly half of Mexican citizens lived in poverty. But thanks to an increase in exports, restucturing of finances, and Former President Vincente Fox the poverty rating is now down to 17%. However, the economy of Mexico is unbalanced, as northern states have more money and are more developed. Agriculture and industry are the biggest contributors to Mexico's economy. Currently 11 Mexican Peso's is equivilent to 1 U.S dollar.
http://economics.about.com/cs/analysis/a/trade_mexico.htm
http://web.worldbank.org
ALthough Mexico has been stereotyped as being predominatly Hispanic, there are many more cultures that make up significant fractions of the country. Ethnic Europeans make up 10-15% of the population. There are also many Chinese and Korean citizens, especially in recent years. Mexican citizens have heritage in Portugal, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, and Romania.
Celeste,
In Mexico the worth of pesos have gone down. The Bank of Mexico is a government owned central bank. It controls Mexico's total money supply by monitoring the banking system's reserve requirements. Many banks have high levels of debt because the clients are unable to pay their loans. (encarta.msn.com/encylopedia) Mexico has two types of permits for people, one is a nonimmigrant permit that is for those who just want to visit then leave. The other one is immigrant permit that is for those who want to live there for either short or long. (www.nexperince.com/liveandwork/immigration.htm. After WWII Mexico experienced economic ups and downs. The leaders tried to fix the problem by lowering the value of the currency and by cutting back on government spending. When huge oil reserves were discovered it boosted the economy boosted significantly. (book).
Ed Brown
In Mexico their government is a Federal Presidential Representitive Democraric Republic. The President of Mexico is the head of state and the head of government. He is also the head of the military. Their are still three branches of government. The executive, legislative, and judicial. The president is elected directly by popular vote. Their is no possible reelection for president. Their is an election every six years. The president now is Felipe Calderon.
In Mexico, the U.S. is trying to build a barrier between U.S. and Mexico. The wall will be 700 miles long so that the immigrants would not be able to cross over. The Mexicans are very angry at the U.S. for building it because it is offensive to them. The Mexicans know that this would not stop them from immigrating to the U.S., but it will cause problems such as deaths in attempting to cross the barrier. The U.S. is building the barrier partly because of the Avian Flu epidemic. The trade that the U.S. has with Canada and Mexico will become complicated because of this action. Political leaders are discussing border security and trade issues between the Americas. The topic about September 11 was also discuss because that event has caused the U.S. to be hesitant with the trade between Canada and Mexico.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6390291.stm
-Nicole Kim
mexico had a presidential election last year in the fall of 2006, and with a really close vote of 58% for right winged Felipe Calderón. Lately the government has been highly unstable and left winged candidate Andrés Manuel López has called a petition trying to make a parallel government there have been many protests and revolts and with this unstable government, Mexico is having trouble dealing with their economic problems like low health care and deals of trade with the U S
Alcohol causes trouble no matter where it is found. In Mexico, the alcohol abuse is becoming draining for the country both socially and economically. There are about 9 million alcoholics in Mexico and there are many damages that these people cause which are giving this country more problems than they need. Hundreds of thousands of minors suffer from drug related problems. The legal drinking age in Mexico is only 18 years old, unlike in the United States where you have to wait until you are 21 to drink legally. Majority of accidents, divorces, suicides, etc are related to alcoholism in some way. All these negative social events are happening simply because of drugs and alcohol. Many people who have unfortunately been taken in by alcohol don’t have treatment available to them and continue to suffer day after day.
http://www.q4q.nl/alcohol/mexicoalcoholeng.htm
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html
Sam Shortridge
Poverty is a huge problem in Mexico. In the past 2 decades, there have been more and more people that are becoming impoverished because of economic crisis. Having the access to electricity, water, and sanitation is getting harder to pay for. In 2002 almost one fifth of the population was considered to be living in extreme poverty. Since then the numbers have gone up. Because of the economy and expenses, more latinos are considering coming to North America. The problem with that is may are coming illegally, which in turn causes problems for us and Mexico.
Today the president in Mexico is Felipe Calderon. He is trying to work with the united states on the incresingly significant immigration problem. Calderon hopes to unvail his ideas for controlled migration just before President Bush visits in March. The migrants that come into mexico are called Central American immigrants. He is trying to start a policy called "Safe Southern Border Program." Calderon is trying to take a less harsh approach to mexico's immigration by making being undocumented a civil violation and is trying to establish formal guest-woker program for its illegal immigrants.
Overall they are trying to take a more civil and friendly approach even though they get 80% less immigrants per year than we do.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/03/02/2003350659
MARIA FLIS
Mexico is located in North America, south of the United States; northwest of Guatemala, and the Caribbean Sea; also has North Pacific Ocean on the west and Gulf of Mexico on the east Mexico is a federal constitutional republic, consisting of 31 states and a federal district, Mexico City which is one of the most populous cities on Earth. Covering almost 2 million square kilometers. Mexico is the 6th largest country in the Americas by total area and 15th largest in the world. With a population of about 108 million, it is the 11th most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.
Mexico has a free market economy, and is an upper middle-income country. It is the 13th largest economy in the world. Because of the large population, people can't find jobs and everyone is trying to immigrate. The population in extreme poverty has decreased from 24.2% to 17.6% in the general population. Income inequality remains in Mexico. GDP per CAPITA is about $5,910. Almost 90% of Mexican trade has been put under free trade agreements with over 40 countries, of which the North American Free Trade Agreement remains the most influential. Tourism in Mexico is a large industry, the third in importance.
Felipe Calderon is Mexico's new president. The three parties that have been the dominant parties in Mexican politics are:
National Action Party (PAN): a center-right conservative party founded in 1939. Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI): founded in 1929 to unite all the factions of the Mexican Revolution and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD): a center-left party founded in 1989 formed by the coalition of socialists and liberal parties, the National Democratic Front (Mexico) under the candidacy of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico
obigham-
Vicente Fox was president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. The current president is Felipe Calderon. When Fox took office, it marked the first time in Mexico's history that an incumbent president had peacefully surrendered power to an elected opposition victor. The PRI controlled power in Mexican politics for more than 70 years. While Fox was president annually inflation was continually under 10%, the peso's devaluation to the United States Dollar was unsubstantial, and central bank reserves were significant. 1988 Salinas de Gortari won the presidential election. President Salinas worked towards reversal of the 1982 Mexican bank nationalization and most importantly negotiating NAFTA with the United States and Canada. The PRI party begun with Plutarco Elías Calles efforts to stop the violent struggle for power between the victorious factions of the Mexican Revolution. Today major problems that are ailing Mexico are its inability to deal with its increase population growth, which leads to emigration. Because of the increase population the government is forced to provide health care and jobs that are no available currently. Another social issue in Mexico is the drug trade which has been prevalent since the birth of the nation. Along with drugs come traffickers, gangs and crime which hurts Mexico’s big cities and trading capitols.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Salinas_de_Gortari
http://www.unesco.org/most/astorga.htm
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