I live near the state line of MO and IL and many Illinois residents near there will drive a short distance to Missouri to buy cheaper gas, and several filling stations compete for traffic immediately on the other side of the bridge.

If Mexico can make the swath near the border attractive and safe enough like a tourist destination with shops and interesting locations, maybe scenic hotels and boat tours, they may find US citizens flowing the other way to visit. Creating jobs for Mexican citizens on the border is a smart plan. Imagine the border as "Vegas Rio Grande" (or perhaps more like Windsor, Canada which is right across the northern border near Detroit) with local shows, casinos, culture, nightlife, and amusement parks that cater to people visiting for a day or taking a vacation near the Rio Grande.

In fact, smart US businesspeople who are in real-estate would be savvy to snap up property there and build resorts and attractions that capitalize on providing a safe and nearby vacation destination. I wonder who might be interested in that business if they weren't such a racist?

A lot of Hope is riding on this new president. All my friends down here in central Mexico are very hopeful that things can change with this man and his leadership. It seems like he is their Obama.

and his people stole the election during the night when everyone was sleeping, and turned the score completely upside down during their late-night "counting" of the votes.

The millions who turned out and even drove tractors for miles and miles to Lo Zocalo to protest in Mexico City, and stayed, some not returning to work for weeks, to protest showed more public devotion to a candidate than I've ever seen.

I really don't think he would let them down. He's such a good man, and he's got courage.

Glad to learn you are someone who's informed on Mexico's affairs of state! Wonderful.

attempted crossings? Strikes me as well-intentioned but very unwise. Double the minimum wage across all of Mexico, not just the border. That's not trolling Trump, that's just asking for trouble down the line whether he's in office or not.

Maybe the word was already out...?

I certainly don't monitor the happenings of the Mexican legislature.

As well as requiring that they pay more.

Think about it: If you have employees and you're minimum pay suddenly doubles, that's a lot of money out of your pocket. If there's nothing to replace it, that's a lot of money out of your pocket. If you're making things for export, suddenly the costs increase but the price you charge doesn't change much. Result? In theory that money goes back into circulation, but again, if you're making things for export ... Also the usual "if you increase minimum wage, well, they're the ones who'll definitely spend the money" usually fails--yes, they will definitely spend the money, but typically on cheaper products or things like food and rent, and in the end that doesn't increase decent jobs' wages.

Do that with the economic enterprise called your "family"--increase expenses without increasing revenue--and you usually do something about it, instead of saying, "Happy to pay more." Because something has to give.

As it is, he's counting on something increasing revenue. He also proposes putting a lot of money into "investments". The money has to come from somewhere, or he runs up Mexico's sovereign debt. It peaked not far below 50% of GDP a couple of years ago, and it was brought down a bit in the last year or so (as a percentage of GDP).

The businesses will want to see how it plays out.


The "national guard" idea is risky. On the one hand, it may be a way of subsidizing a lot of young men. On the other, it may be a way of training a lot of young men who will use that training elsewhere. And it runs the risk of becoming a political tool--I don't think that's likely, but the last such organization trumpeted as a kind of social security guarantee (in a different country) turned into an oppressive political paramilitary force.

But aren't most of the migrants coming from Central America (through Mexico)? Aren't undocumented Mexicans in US already leaving (self deporting) back to Mexico for better opportunity.

The whole issue is more complex than swinging at the low hanging fruit for show, but when are the real issues going to be addressed.

Answer: NEVER as long as there is political advantage in pandering to band-aid solutions.

He is going to bring Mexico into the 21st century as long as the drug cartels don't kill him. I'm not being hyperbolic on this though as Mexico has some of the highest percentages of politicians assassinated in the world.

On Jan 2, the newly elected mayor of a town in Oaxaca was shot and killed within 2 hours of being elected! I can't believe anyone would want to run for office when there is such risk.

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/02/681536831/in-mexico-a-mayor-is-murdered-within-hours-of-taking-office

I hope AMLO will really be able to help his people and stay safe.

But I don’t see how this gets accomplished. The rich in Mexico will never tolerate being taxed to support improvements in the lives of their social “lessers.” Capital flight could become a real problem.
Then there’s the corruption. Also PEMEX no longer exists (technically anyway), so I’m not sure the government will be able to set the prices of gas sold by private companies.
Bookmarking to read the whole piece when I find my glasses and have coffee.

workers find themselves behind bars for a few weeks? Start with Trump. No only were undocumented people hired at his golf course, they provided phony papers for them! Lock him up!