Posts Tagged economy

As USA Today reports, the Mexico that Americans perceive and the Mexico that has developed over the last 20 years are two different places.  A recent report by the advertising firm GSD&M and Vianovo found that the three words that Americans most commonly use to describe Mexico include “drugs,” “poor,” and “unsafe.”  As USA Today points out:

“These perceptions reflect the Mexican reality that dominates headlines: soaring crime rates and gruesome murders in a war against drug traffickers. But this window into Mexico overlooks an economic transformation and deepening ties with the United States that reflect a dramatically different country.”

The same poll found that over half of Americans still see Mexico as a developing country, when in fact it is now a middle class nation.  In the past 15 years, Mexico has seen an increase in middle class wealth that includes roughly half their population.  Furthermore, the Mexican economy has become one of the most open and competitive economies, dominated by manufactured goods, and has expanded North American supply chains, supporting jobs for both Mexican and U.S. workers.

To read the full article on Mexico’s increasing economic relevance, go here.

While reporting on Mexico’s falling drug violence, BBC news talked recently about Mexico’s bad press and the exaggerated fears about Mexico that have caused tourists to avoid the country in recent years.

While Mexico is on the list of travel warnings issued by the US state department, along with Iran, Algeria and Syria, it is still the number one destination for US citizens travelling abroad. Reports the BBC:

If Mexico were a stock, now might be the time to buy. The country has been severely under-valued in recent years. Despite high rates of crime and violence elsewhere in Latin America, the media tend to focus relentlessly on Mexico’s drug war….According to the latest analysis by the Trans-Border Institute, drug-related homicides were down by some 19% compared with the same time last year.

The article also talks about how Mexico is bouncing back, not just politically but economically as well.  The country remains a number one tourist destination for Americans, with more than 20 million visitors last year, and an estimated one million U.S. citizens who reside permanently in Mexico.

Read the full article here.