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The long lasting effects of trade
In The Long Process of Development: Building Markets and States in Pre-industrial England, Spain and their Colonies, my co-author and I show that smugglers in New Spain (current Mexico plus much more)...
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Priorities, priorities
Mexico’s President has been battling corruption rumors for years. I guess now instead of trying to actively combat corruption, he is instead spreading it around more! Santiago Perez of the WSJ...
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The market speaks
Bloomberg just published an article arguing that Trump lost last night’s debate according to at least one important metric: the Mexican peso market. The peso/$ exchange rate has been hovering right...
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The Market Speaks, Mexico Edition
The NY Times has a video on the plight of Mexico City organ grinders. Apparently, “[they] say they are losing popularity. They face more competition and a younger population that does not appreciate...
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Land reform & violence in Mexico
The economic inefficiency of Mexico’s ejido system (rural land that is held communally) led the federal government to implement serious land reform in 1992. [Click here for a video I created for...
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Misery loves company
As you probably know, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has invited Donald Trump to a meeting today in Mexico City. It’s hard to fathom Peña Nieto’s motives for this invitation, except maybe to...
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Mexican education reform should start at the top
ABC, in a news article yesterday, quoted Trump from January saying about Mexico “We send them practically nothing and Mexico is the new China. I hate to say it. The Mexican leaders are so much smarter...
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Mrs. Diego Rivera, the dabbler
From Maria Popover’s BrainPickings, I found this gem of a headline from a 1933 newspaper: I’m not sure the writer could be more patronizing if he tried. Love the word “dabble.” And in more recent Frida...
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S***y ideas flow downhill
Breitbart reports that the idea of a border wall is catching on in Mexico, but not the one Trump is proposing: “The editorial board of El Mañana, one of the largest newspapers in the border state of...
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Who wears short shorts?
Good news coming out of Canada yesterday for Mexico. The Canadian government has dropped visa requirements for Mexicans visiting the country (and Mexico, in turn, has agreed to lift its ban on...
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This is why we can’t have nice things, Mexico edition
From Duncan Tucker (@DuncanTucker), who tweets “Came across this road in San José del Castillo, Jalisco, yesterday. Urban planning at its finest.” The speed limit painted on the road right before the...
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Anti-corruption maracas
The Guardian published an article yesterday titled “Mexico City mayor ridiculed over plan to fight sex crimes with plastic whistles.” Mexico has a real problem with sexual assaults and a lot of them...
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There, I fixed it (Acapulco Edition)
Amid the carnage that has made Acapulco the murder capital of the world, one enterprising police chief believes he has found the solution to tourism woes: a brigade of attractive young women between...
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Forget Batman v. Superman (if you can). Here’s the real super-hero battle!
However, Captain Mexico’s defenders (I’m looking at you, Sundance White) say he merely does the jobs Captain America won’t do! Oh and while we are at it, there’s this:
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Baby don’t you go to Guerrero
The Economist reports that murder rates are rising again in Mexico. Here’s their graph showing national averages since 1997 and an indication of where most of the new murders are coming from: The...
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Sad Quinceañera
Ah Mexico, so feckless but with people that have awesome senses of humor. One of my favorite things about living there (once I got a handle on the language), was the constant flow of jokes, puns,...
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Taconomics
There is a class at the University of Kentucky called “Taco Literacy: Public Advocacy and Mexican Food in the US South.” A syllabus typically includes a statement by the professor about what he or...
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Stupid is stupid in any language
Wow, Mexico’s Ken-doll president, EPN sure knew exactly how to celebrate their third capture of pint-sized drug lord El Chapo: Misión cumplida: lo tenemos. Quiero informar a los mexicanos que Joaquín...
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I don’t think this is what they mean when they say signaling is costly!
Ah, Harvard. The holy grail for Mexican politicians. From 1982 – 20012 4 out of 5 Presidents went to Harvard (de la Madrid, Salinas, Fox, and Calderon). The 5th, Zedillo, slummed it down at Yale. It...
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MIE: ’cause you can’t bribe a camera edition
When Robin and I lived in Mexico City, dealing with cops basically just meant giving them money. Now in the new Mexico they have traffic cameras (just like Fairfax VA and Norman OK), and I guess they...
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