The Mexican Economy

Celias Restaurant just closed in La Bufadora. With the recent decline in business in the Ensenada Area in
general, they just could not stay open. Which leads me to a recap of the recent decline in the Mexican
Economy.

The last couple of years have been extremely rough on the Mexican Economy in the past their economy was
driven by their top four industries in order of importance; Oil, Illegal Aliens sending money home, Tourism, and
trade with the US.

Late 2007:
1) Crime Reporting in the US (however incorrect and misleading) curbs Tourism in Holiday Season.

2008:
1) More Crime Reporting and most blown out of proportion by the US Media. Hurts Tourism. See Safety in the
Baja.
2) Summer Gasoline hits plus $4.00 per gallon blowing away drive in tourism.
3) Oil then drops in Late 2008 to only $40.00 dollars per barrel from $150.00 per barrel killing the oil industry.
4) Late 2008 the economy in the US turns sour and when the US sneezes the world catches a cold. This kills
the trade with the US.

2009:
1) More Crime Reporting and most blown out of proportion by the US Media. Hurts Tourism.
2) Lay offs in the states kills tourism as well. Illegal Aliens also getting laid off and this kills money flow back
into Mexico.
3) Illegal Aliens start reverse migration back to Mexico where it is cheaper to live. The problem is that there are
fewer jobs in Mexico now.
4) With the economy bad on both sides of the border, no one is spending any money. That hurts imports and
tourism.

5) The final nail in the coffin for 2009 is the Swine Flu. The press goes wild and is
irresponsible at best for weeks. Early reports of hundreds dying in Mexico City
(the supposed birth place of the Swine Flu), spurs warnings not to travel to
Mexico. A few morons in Washington DC even want the borders closed. You were
more likely to catch the swine flu in Southern California then the entire Baja at the
time. After reports of hundred's dead in Mexico City, later it was corrected to only
7 people dead in a city of 8 million. The Press is the real Pig here. They reported
every hour even if it was not true with no apologies to the damage they did to the
economy on both sides of the border with trumped up stories about a pandemic.

Even after the correction, the press pushes on and the cruise ships avoid all Mexican ports. Cruise ships bring
dollars to whichever port they land. This hits the economy hard on any port city which there are many. Now that
the dust has settled and we now know the real facts including that the swine flu originated in Canada not Mexico
the damage continues:
1) The only Cruise ships docking are Carnival, the lifeblood of many Mexican Tourisism. The others are not set to
resume until November or December.
3) Mexican Tourism is off like never before because of the miss reporting by the worldwide press (mostly
American press).
4) As of July 4th, Cabo is off 75% in tourism this year.

Recap:
The bad news is that many Mexicans are out of work through no fault of their own. Many more are out of work
because of a terribly botched job of reporting the news of the day by the American Press. See Swine Flu in the
Baja. Living on both sides of the border, has shown me just how bad the American Press has gotten over my
lifetime. It is almost time to disregard every word they say! I am embarrassed by their lack of professionalism
and bias.

The good news is at every Mexican's expense unfortunately, the peso is dropping and the crowds are down.
There has been no better time to enjoy a vacation in Mexico. Their economy will recover just like the US will.
Until then, there are less people. More competition means better pricing, and the peso dropping without any
inflation gives you real dollar power on your vacation (see Dollar vs Peso news.) As we come out of this bad
economy and travel to the Baja and you will get a great trip at a value.