How has daily life in Mexico changed with economic growth??

Question

How has daily life in Mexico changed with economic growth??

Answer 1

There's still not enough jobs for all the young men looking for work--that's why so many come to the US.  They can build a Ford plant here and a VW plant there, but that's only a small percentage of jobs compared to the number that want jobs.

The money that is sent back to Mexico by workers in the US exceeds the amount Mexico gets from all the tourism each year.

If the US succeeds in pushing all those young men back into Mexico, there will be a large population of people with no income and no future, and that might push them into the drug trade and other illegal activities.

But for right now, the rich are still rich and the poor are still poor and the middle class is growing slowly.

Answer 2

It is hard to measure economic growth from the point of view of a worker or consumer. Twenty years ago it was almost impossible to get a car loan or mortgage. After Salinas became president in 1988 he privatized the banks and allowed foreign banks to come into Mexico.. We thought that would be good, but it turned out that the foreign banks saw that Mexicans were accustomed to paying high fees for poor service and rather than try to offer more for less.

Not all of the fault lies with bankers. Much of the problem is due to poor government fiscal policy and corruption at all levels.

The middle class seems to be expanding, but it is very difficult to maintain a middle class lifestyle. While top level executives and most elected officials have larger salaries than their American counterparts, lower and midrange employees earn less than in the US. The minimum wage in Mexico is around $5.00 USD per day.

Services are very expensive: there is one phone company ( not counting celular companies) and if you want a phone line you have to pay the equivalent of a $100 nonrefundable deposit. You are allowed 100 minutes of free local calls per month after that you are charged for local calls. Long distance service is more expensive than anywhere else in North America or the European Union. The owner of the telephone monopoly is now the wealthiest man in the world. He says that Bill gates and warren Buffet et al. are stupid becuase they give billions to charity; it is better to keep all your money because sharing it doesn't help the poor. But, I digress.

Expect to pay a few thousand dollars more for an automobile than you would in the USA. The VWs, Fords, GMs, Mercedes, Chrysler/Dodges and other vehicles assembled here are considered imports by the government because the companies that build them are not Mexican so they have a hefty import tax.

There is a national yearly ownership tax on automobiles that is close to 3% of the value of the vehicle. Oh, the government decides the value of the vehicle. The bluebook value has nothing to do with it. So a car that cost the equivalent of $20,000 USD will have a property tax of nearly $600 USD.

Credit card interest rates are high, car loans are high. To buy a house most banks want a 20-25% down payment and offer 12% financing for up to 15 years. well not all, I got a 15% down payment and 12% for 20 years. Any way you cut it it's not pretty.

Petro fuels go up everymonth a fraction of a peso. We don't see the huge jumps in prices based on the international petroleum market that other countres see so in that way we are fortunate. BUT, if and when fuel prices go down worldwide our fuel prices still go up that fraction.

I could go on and on. There are more products available now in Mexico than before. We have access to the same gadgets and entertainment sytems that people in the first world have, just at higher prices. There is credit available, but very expensive. No one who can afford to send their children to private schools sends them to public. No interest is taken by the gvt. in public education. Salaries for lower and mid level employees have grown, but barely ahead of or even with inflation.

This is a tough question to answer and I have lived almost my entire adult life in Mexico!

Answer 3

You Got it (rhino72032)

is kind of what we live here!

we take a step very, very slowly.

so is hard to the middle class people advance and to have a decent life.

Answer 4

Mexican Carlos Slim has just got as the richest man in the world, with an amount that´s upper than microsoft´s owner, does that tell you something?