La crisis

When it comes to NAFTA and the economy — and whether it has been good or bad for Mexico, whether Mexico “wins” or “loses” is a matter of dueling statistics… and as we all know, “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”.

All of which is fine, but sometimes, it is more instructive to stop looking at charts and start looking at our neighbors.  Esther (From Xico) :

I wake up around 7 every morning, in time, on clear days, to watch blue strengthen and wash away the gray of dawn. Fhe sun land in sparkles on trees outside our windows.  As I’ve said, from our windows we see a lush place, brilliant colors against a rich, deep-green carpet.

To the side and back of our house, beyond  our wall, the mostly small houses of wood or concrete, line the streets around a raggedy park.  Most of the people here are not poor in the sense of a bureaucrat’s definition of poor, most I would say are no more unhappy than the same number of people in a working class neighborhood in the US would be, though they clearly have less: less healthcare, less education (though that is open to discussion), less stuff, including stuff like dishwashers and refrigerators and electric stoves.  Like people in the US, they are probably more anxious than they used to be, but they are more worried than Americans (who are indeed also more worried than they used to be) because of La Crisis. As Mexicans, they live in the country in the hemisphere most affected by the recession in the US, one that appears to be slipping faster in health care, education and poverty. In addition to decline, inflation continues, so prices are going up at the same time people have less money. …  And everywhere, there are people trying to sell bits of things on busy highways and street corners.  Kids who used to juggle for pesos are now blowing fire from mouthfuls of gasoline.  We saw an indigenous woman, her baby tied on her back, trying to get some cash by trying hard (and not succeeding) to juggle two balls.

The entire post, which includes the wonkish details of why that woman is juggling, is found here. Must reading.