Normality is returning to Mexico City. Unfortunately, the Mexican economy is not. The economy is clearly beginning to lag, which has enormous implications for public finances and employment. The Ministry of Finance has just revealed that federal income has decreased while government expenditures have increased. This cannot be good for the national debt. It seems that the H1N1 virus turned out to be less harmful for the country than the international financial crisis.
Apparently, the outbreak of the H1N1 was effectively managed. This does not mean that the dozens of deaths were meaningless, that tourism was not affected, or that the stress in Sino-Mexican relations will soon be forgotten. In spite of this, it seems that the federal government did avoid a major health incident. Although the country did not have a vaccine for the social effects of the outbreak, it controlled it and now things are beginning to return to normality.
The Mexican economy, however, did get a vaccine against the effects of the financial crisis—a loan from the IMF. Yet, the economy has been hardly hit and only a long and painful treatment will be able to get Mexico back in shape. But how did a healthy economy manage to get so sick? Well, maybe the economy was not doing that well in the first place. Remember the reduction in remittances and the weak peso of October 2008? It is unfortunate that the IMF loan was only approved in April 2009. By then, the Mexican economy was already infected.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
