The word “Bimbo” in common English usage refers to an inept person, an airhead or a “cheap” flirtatious “dumb blond”. In Spanish, “Bimbo” has no particular meaning, but is the name of Mexico’s predominant bread baker, a massive multinational company. It is so well-known that in many parts of Latin America, packaged, sliced white bread […]
The GINI index, used to quantify the degree of inequality within a population or country (the higher the value, the more inequality), was introduced in a previous post. In this post we report on the change in GINI index for the member countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). The OECD regularly […]
There have been several fatalities associated with Pemex pipeline explosions in recent years, sometimes resulting from illegal attempts to tap into the lines. They include the disastrous blast in San Martin Texmelucan, Puebla, in December 2010 that killed 28 people. It therefore comes as something of a surprise to find press reports highlighting areas where […]
The Sierra de Ameca is a range of hills a short distance west of Guadalajara. The area was important in colonial times for gold and silver mining. One of the mines is called Piedra Bola (Stone Ball). The landscape immediately around this mine is so distinctive and unusual that it featured on the cover of […]
Some businesses leaving northern Mexico and moving to Mexico City According to Laura Velázquez, the Economic Development Secretary for the Federal District, the city has attracted 1650 firms from the north of Mexico in the first six months of 2011. The Federal District does offer some financial incentives for newly established companies, but the main […]
An IBM survey of 8,042 commuters in 20 cities on six continents shows that more people are now taking public transport rather than driving. In general, people report that traffic has improved over the past three years. The survey, entitled Global Commuter Pain, found that commuting in Mexico City was the “most painful” of the […]
In a previous post, we looked at Mexico and the UN Millennium Development Goals. This post is the text of a press release issued by the President’s Office in September 2011: As part of the celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), President Felipe Calderón gave the General Administrator of […]
We looked in a previous post at the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), originally presented in an Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) working paper, and explained its advantages over earlier poverty measures, especially the relatively crude single-factor approaches like “a dollar a day”. Earlier this year (2011), the Ethos Foundation, a Mexican NGO, presented […]
In previous posts, we have seen Where Mexico’s vehicle assembly plants are located, as well as looked at some of the reasons for Mexico’s success in this industrial sector and examined Mexico’s vibrant autoparts sector. In this post we analyze the varied financial flows involved in the industry. Both local and international financial flows underpin […]
In a previous post, we looked at why Querétaro has become a hub of aerospace manufacturing, home to major manufacturing or research plants for such firms as Bombardier and GE. In this post we take a further look at the aerospace industry in Mexico, which, according to ProMexico, the Mexican federal agency that promotes trade […]
William H. Beezley, a professor of history at the University of Arizona, has written widely about Mexican history. He was co-editor, alongside Michael C. Meyer, of the Oxford History of Mexico, an illustrated “narrative chronicle” through the centuries, and a landmark modern history of Mexico. In this book, first published in 2008, Beezley explores the […]
Measuring poverty sounds easy but is surprisingly difficult. What exactly constitutes poverty? What is “extreme poverty”? Simple poverty measures are often uni-dimensional. For example, many poverty figures quoted in the past were based on the proportion of the population having to survive on less than a dollar a day (later revised upwards to $1.25 a […]
Richie (Rishi) Sowa is back! In 2002, Sowa, a former carpenter from Middlesbrough in England, completed the construction of his own private island paradise off the coast of Quintana Roo—built entirely of plastic bottles. Amazing but true! Sowa painstakingly constructed his island, known as Spiral Island, using more than 200,000 plastic bottles, and then lived […]
In previous posts in this mini-series, we have seen where Mexico’s vehicle assembly plants are located and looked at some of the reasons for Mexico’s success in this industrial sector. In this post, we consider the importance of the autoparts industry. Each year, Mexico makes about 2 million vehicles, of which about 1.5 million are […]
Geotourism is geography tourism (as opposed to tourism geography!). It applies to any recreational (tourism) activity where one of the primary objectives is to visit some phenomenon of geographic importance. This could be a coral reef, mangrove swamp, volcano, mountain peak, cave or canyon, but it could just as easily be a sinkhole, waterfall, new […]
According to a recent government study, almost half of Mexico’s population now lives in poverty. The report came from the National Political and Social Development Commission (Spanish language acronym: Coneval). Poverty rates had been falling for several years, so this is clear evidence that Mexico’s economy has been struggling in the wake of the economic […]
As we saw in an earlier post – Where are Mexico’s vehicle assembly plants located? – Mexico’s autoparts and vehicle assembly industry plays a vital role in Mexico’s economy, attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), providing employment and bringing in billions of dollars in export earnings each year. Mexico also has a large internal (domestic) market […]
The sugar industry accounts for 0.5% of national GDP. Sugarcane fields cover 670,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) in Mexico, the second largest crop area after corn. Yields of sugarcane range from 60-70 metric tons/hectare. Main growing areas in Mexico The main cane producing states are: Veracruz (1.9 million metric tons), San Luis Potosí and Jalisco […]
Below is Mexican cartoonist Negrinho’s view of the “Geography of Mexico in the 21st Century“, which shows how “In the course of history, the geography of Mexico has changed: its natural environment due to deforestation, its politics, society and even its security…” The cartoon dates from a few years ago, and features references to politics, […]
In a recent post, we looked at the vexed question of the overall 2010 homicide rate for Mexico. We included a mention of National System of Public Security (SNSP) data for Mexico that show that there were 18 intentional homicides (murders) per 100,000 population in 2010. This rate varies greatly from state to state (see […]
An earlier post looked at why Mexico’s coffee harvest was unlikely to meet expectations this year. The 2010-11 harvest, hit by poor weather, totaled a disappointing 4 million 60-kg sacks (240,000 metric tons), almost entirely Coffea arabica and about 70% destined for export. This post looks at some recent trends relating to the production and […]
In a previous post–Ciudad Juárez faces economic fallout from the effects of the war on drugs–we looked at how violence in one border city has adversely affected the local economy, causing many businesses to close. The violence has also resulted in many people migrating away from the city. How many have moved? There is limited […]
Mexico is one of the world’s “Top Ten” countries for vehicle production and for vehicle exports. 75% of Mexico’s annual production of around 2 million vehicles are made for export. The industry attracts large amounts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Vehicle assembly plants provide around 60,000 jobs, with a further 80,000 employed in distributorships nationwide […]
This question is far more complicated to answer than might initially appear. To start with there are two primary sources of homicide data in Mexico which provide very different results and vary significantly from state to state and year to year. The National System of Public Security (SNSP) compiles homicide statistics from police reports and […]
Two major Japanese car-makers—Mazda and Honda—have announced expansion plans in Mexico in recent months. They will help ensure that Mexico remains the 9th largest car manufacturer in the world, and the 6th largest vehicle exporter. In addition, Italian auto-maker Fiat is expanding its plant in Toluca. Mazda plant in Salamanca Mazda is building a new […]
The proposed implementation of a United Nations-supported carbon storage program (REDD) in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is provoking plenty of controversy. The debate is hotting up because a follow-up program called REDD+ is due to start in 2012. A good summary of the situation is provided by REDD rag to indigenous forest dwellers. […]
The Water Advisory Council (CCA), a Mexican NGO specializing in water research, education and policy, has published its 2011 report on Mexico’s water management, sewerage and sanitation. The report looks at data for 50 Mexican cities, each of which has a population in excess of 250,000. The report —Gestión del Agua en las Ciudades de […]
In several previous posts we have looked at specific migration channels connecting Mexico to the USA: From Morelos to Minnesota; case study of a migrant channel between Mexico and USA Migration channels between Mexico and the USA, or how distant towns are linked through migration Over half a million natives of the state of Puebla […]
In an earlier post—Can Mexico’s Environmental Agency protect Mexico’s coastline?— we took a critical look at proposals for a tourism mega-development near Cabo Pulmo on the eastern side of the Baja California Peninsula. Cabo Pulmo (see map), a village of about 120 people, is about an hour north of San José del Cabo, and on […]
Aeroméxico, Mexico’s major international airline, made aviation history in July. Aeroméxico flight AM1, from Mexico City to Madrid, was the first ever commercial transatlantic passenger flight using bio-fuel. The Boeing 777 flew on a mixture of biofuel and regular jet fuel. Earlier this year, another Mexican airline, Interjet, began using renewable jatropha-based biofuel for flights […]