# For those of us who have a Peso based bank account...



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

At this moment the dollar/peso is at 17.24. That is down from 19.44 just before the recent rate increase. 

I hope I don't jinx things.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

chuck846 said:


> At this moment the dollar/peso is at 17.24. That is down from 19.44 just before the recent rate increase.
> 
> I hope I don't jinx things.


Yes. It bottomed around 20 about a month ago and has been slowly but steadily rising in value since then.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> Yes. It bottomed around 20 about a month ago and has been slowly but steadily rising in value since then.


I think Senor Carstens is a pretty shrewd guy.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

chuck846 said:


> At this moment the dollar/peso is at 17.24. That is down from 19.44 just before the recent rate increase.
> 
> I hope I don't jinx things.


Does anyone else find it a curious quirk of English that when the peso goes from 10/dollar to 20/dollar it falls. Of course, it is because the value falls from .10 to .05 dollars. But, I still find it curious that we use the rising and falling terminology while quoting conversion rates that are going the opposite direction. Only a pedant would care, I guess.


----------



## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

If you map the price of the peso, in US dollars to the price of oil, you will see that the graphs move almost in tandem.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> Does anyone else find it a curious quirk of English that when the peso goes from 10/dollar to 20/dollar it falls. Of course, it is because the value falls from .10 to .05 dollars. But, I still find it curious that we use the rising and falling terminology while quoting conversion rates that are going the opposite direction. Only a pedant would care, I guess.


I look at it like a chart of USD/MXN - and lately the dollar is falling - the line is dropping. If it were MXN/USD the line would be rising.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

dwwhiteside said:


> If you map the price of the peso, in US dollars to the price of oil, you will see that the graphs move almost in tandem.


Pretty close...

Oil Price: Latest Price & Chart for Crude Oil - NASDAQ.com

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MXNUSD%3DX+Interactive#{"range":"3mo","allowChartStacking":true}


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

For those who might believe that oil is the stuff that greases Mexico's economy, read this: Mexico Got More Money from Remittances Than from Oil Revenues in 2015 - NBC News


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

joaquinx said:


> For those who might believe that oil is the stuff that greases Mexico's economy, read this: Mexico Got More Money from Remittances Than from Oil Revenues in 2015 - NBC News


My understanding was that oil, remittances and tourism each accounted for about one third of Mexico's income. But I just saw a Bloomberg article which said that tourism is currently in fifth place and expected to grow to third place by 2018. With oil prices falling maybe it is not surprising that remittances have taken over as the biggest source of income.

If they included revenue from the drug business, the ranking might be different.


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

TundraGreen said:


> My understanding was that oil, remittances and tourism each accounted for about one third of Mexico's income. But I just saw a Bloomberg article which said that tourism is currently in fifth place and expected to grow to third place by 2018. With oil prices falling maybe it is not surprising that remittances have taken over as the biggest source of income.
> 
> If they included revenue from the drug business, the ranking might be different.


The article mentioned that "Manufacturing exports are currently Mexico's No. 1 source of foreign income." Not oil, remittances, nor tourism.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

Remittances have to be a hard thing to track, no ?
Is it a remittance when I move monies from a US account to a Mexican account ?
Seems a little hokey - kind of like 70 % of US GDP being consumer spending.


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

chuck846 said:


> Remittances have to be a hard thing to track, no ?
> Is it a remittance when I move monies from a US account to a Mexican account ?
> Seems a little hokey - kind of like 70 % of US GDP being consumer spending.



Only if you never had to track remittances. I am sure that those who track these items know the difference between a remittance and a transfer of funds from bank to bank. Considering the number of nationals in the US compared to the number of extranjeros, we foreigners don't count as a significant number. Then we have to differentiate between those who live here and tourists.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

joaquinx said:


> The article mentioned that "Manufacturing exports are currently Mexico's No. 1 source of foreign income." Not oil, remittances, nor tourism.


I missed that. I spent a few minutes trying to find a source that included numbers or percentages for the various sources of income to Mexico and could not find one.


----------



## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

chuck846 said:


> Remittances have to be a hard thing to track, no ?
> Is it a remittance when I move monies from a US account to a Mexican account ?
> Seems a little hokey - kind of like 70 % of US GDP being consumer spending.


On a macro level, the World Bank and OECD consider International Migrant Remittances to be pretty important, as they are significant portion of the economy of many countries in the Global South. But you are right about it being tricky to calculate this. I skimmed a few documents on the World Bank and OECD websites, and it is complex and not always consistent.Nevertheless, it's important to track for those whose job it is to analyze global economics.

International Migration at All-Time High

On a micro level, many individual families' personal domestic economies are also highly dependent on these remittances. There's a reason Moneygram and Western Union outlets are ubiquitous in Mexico and Central America. In case you haven't noticed the Moneygram outlets, they are in every Elektra store and Banco Azteca.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

ojosazules11 said:


> On a macro level, the World Bank and OECD consider International Migrant Remittances to be pretty important, as they are significant portion of the economy of many countries in the Global South.
> 
> International Migration at All-Time High
> 
> On a micro level, many individual families' personal domestic economies are also highly dependent on these remittances. There's a reason Moneygram and Western Union outlets are ubiquitous in Mexico and Central America. In case you haven't noticed the Moneygram outlets, they are in every Elektra store and Banco Azteca.


Yes - I've been trying to pick up a few silver Libertads at the Banco Azteca across from Walmart every week - they have a better price than the Mexican Mint in DF (sorry CDMX).

Apparently the IMF includes migrant (that is us) monetary transfers in its "remittance" calculation.

The spigot of _Mexican_ immigrants to the US is closing. I believe more Mexicans returned to Mexico than left last year. That is not true for the rest of Latin America. I almost weekly meet someone who lived in the US and has returned here - of their own free will.


----------



## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

In reference to my use of the "Global South" above. Yes, I know Mexico is in North America, but I'm including it in the Global South - always hard to find the right word - I don't particularly care for Third World as it tends to have a disparaging tone. And I don't think of Mexico as a Third World country, even though far too many Mexicans still live in extreme poverty. Developed vs. developing is also value laden. I've heard "Two Thirds World" to recognize that those in the so-called "Third World" are the majority globally, but most people will likely say, "Huh?" 

So I settle on a geographic description, recognizing that not all the included countries are technically in the Southern Hemisphere, and some countries in the Southern Hemisphere (e.g. Australia and New Zealand) are not included in the term Global South. 

As explained on Wikipedia: 

_The North–South divide is broadly considered a socio-economic and political divide. Generally, definitions of the Global North include the United States, Canada, Western Europe and developed parts of East Asia. The Global South is made up of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia including the Middle East. The North is home to all the members of the G8 and to four of the five permanent members of The United Nations Security Council.

The North mostly covers the West and the First World, along with much of the Second World, while the South largely corresponds with the Third World. While the North may be defined as the richer, more developed region and the South as the poorer, less developed region, many more factors differentiate between the two global areas. 95% of the North has enough food and shelter. Similarly, 95% of the North has a functioning educational system. In the South, on the other hand, only 5% of the population has enough food and shelter. "It lacks appropriate technology, it has no political stability, the economies are disarticulated, and their foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product exports."

In economic terms, the North—with one quarter of the world population—controls four fifths of the income earned anywhere in the world. 90% of the manufacturing industries are owned by and located in the North. Inversely, the South—with three quarters of the world populations—has access to one fifth of the world income. As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the "North", regardless of geographical location, while any other nations which do not qualify for "developed" status are in effect deemed to be part of the "South".
_

Maybe I should just keep it simple and say wealthier countries and poorer countries. But even that is not always accurate, as there are some extremely wealthy people in many "poorer" countries, but that wealth is concentrated in the bank accounts of very few. Anyhoo...


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

I don't believe that anyone - other than a certain politician in the US - views Mexico as a third world country. If Japan's demographics are declining Mexico's are soaring. You might have a hard time to find a critical economic projection of Mexico. Just yesterday there was a Goldman Sachs (I believe) exec on Bloomberg who was saying things like - "oh no - Mexico is different. They are doing things the right way. They have a bright future". My eyes were moist


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

chuck846 said:


> I don't believe that anyone - other than a certain politician in the US - views Mexico as a third world country.


i believe that they, whomever they are, refer to Mexico as an "emerging market." Not quite up there with the G10, but closing.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

joaquinx said:


> i believe that they, whomever they are, refer to Mexico as an "emerging market." Not quite up there with the G10, but closing.


But at the same time Brazil is tagged as an emerging market country. Apples to Avacados.

Mexico may not be in the G10 - yet apparently they are #7 in the G20. I have no idea how they figure out that stuff.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

chuck846 said:


> At this moment the dollar/peso is at 17.24. That is down from 19.44 just before the recent rate increase.
> 
> I hope I don't jinx things.


I jinxed it - currently 17.39


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I wonder how much Mexico earns from the manufacture of products like Amana, BlackBerry, BMW, Broan, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Danby, Dell, DeWalt, Dodge, Epson, Fender, Fiat, Ford, Freightliner, Frigidaire, General Electric, GMC, Hewlett-Packard, Honda, Hoover, Hyundai, Lexmark, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel, Panasonic, Philips, Plantronics, Saab, Samsung, Sanitaire, Sony, Sylvania, Toyota, ViewSonic, Volkswagen, Whirlpool, and several others. We contributed recently, buying a new Nissan in Tucson, which was made in Aguascalientes; VIN starts with 3.


----------



## chuck846 (Jan 15, 2016)

RVGRINGO said:


> I wonder how much Mexico earns from the manufacture of products like Amana, BlackBerry, BMW, Broan, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Danby, Dell, DeWalt, Dodge, Epson, Fender, Fiat, Ford, Freightliner, Frigidaire, General Electric, GMC, Hewlett-Packard, Honda, Hoover, Hyundai, Lexmark, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel, Panasonic, Philips, Plantronics, Saab, Samsung, Sanitaire, Sony, Sylvania, Toyota, ViewSonic, Volkswagen, Whirlpool, and several others. We contributed recently, buying a new Nissan in Tucson, which was made in Aguascalientes; VIN starts with 3.


+ JNJ + Abbott + Audi

Mexican workers have a good reputation for doing good work for a fair wage. I have no idea - I only hope there are no labor unions in Mexico.

We just bought a new Subaru - which has now arrived in CDMX. The salesman is going to deliver it to our house in Cuernavaca middle of next week. Pretty nice customer service ! But there is another - what - 15% IVA for Mexico.


----------



## Chelloveck (Sep 21, 2013)

ojosazules11 said:


> There's a reason Moneygram and Western Union outlets are ubiquitous in Mexico and Central America. In case you haven't noticed the Moneygram outlets, they are in every Elektra store and Banco Azteca.


Services like Moneygram and Western Union may soon go extinct, or at least have to start charging lower fees. There are a lot of blockchain wallet services getting venture capital, and I'm sure a few will soon gain a lot of traction.

Think Uber for remittances. If someone in the U.S. has some cash they want to send to someone in Mexico (or anywhere else), they can get the name of a nearby "teller" (any individual or business that has agreed to perform this service and is in the network) from the service, give the cash to the teller, the teller takes a small fee, converts the money to bitcoin, and transfers the funds. The recipient finds another nearby teller, and collects the converted cash in their local currency. Of course, that teller would also collect a small fee. But it's still a lot cheaper than services such as Western Union or MoneyGram.


----------

