
For Migrants, New Land of Opportunity Is Mexico - joe_the_user
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/americas/for-migrants-new-land-of-opportunity-is-mexico.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
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moocowduckquack
_" more Americans have been added to the population of Mexico over the past
few years than Mexicans have been added to the population of the United
States, according to government data in both nations."_

That is priceless. I hope the South Park writing team are taking note. They
could do a follow up to "The Last of the Meheecans".

~~~
greenyoda
This refers to Americans who are _documented_ foreigners in Mexico. Does the
number of Mexicans added to the US population include undocumented immigrants,
or only documented ones?

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skylan_q
I read this piece from the Onion years ago and it stuck in my memory because I
found it so funny at the time: [http://www.theonion.com/articles/illegal-
immigrants-returnin...](http://www.theonion.com/articles/illegal-immigrants-
returning-to-mexico-for-america,1951/)

Now it's not even just Mexicans moving there, but Americans as well! A case of
life imitating comedy and going one step further.

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WildUtah
I lived in Mexico for two years after the crisis of 2008. It was already
obvious then that the median college graduate in Mexico had a higher material
quality of life than the average American college grad.

The wages are lower but the Mexican cost of living hasn't been bid up by
severe development restrictions, badly planned infrastructure, and finance
industry corruption. Middle class life south of the border is more comfortable
than in the USA because prices for housing and transportation aren't driven by
status bidding wars for the limited set of safe, quality locations and good
school districts.

Unskilled workers still make a lot more in the USA and have a richer life
there, but the smaller Mexican educated class is maintaining its quality of
life as it expands. It already matches the wealth north of the Rio Grande.

\---

I should add an example.

\---

For example, imagine we're comparing LA to Guadalajara or SF to Mexico City.
With a degree from a good school, a civil servant might start out making $750
a month in Mexico or $2200 a month in the USA, after taxes. A decent small
shared apartment will cost $200 in Mexico or $800 in the USA. The American
will need a car for at least $400 a month, but cheap, efficient, and somewhat
comfortable public transit is available all over Mexico. Electronics and
internet cost the same. Splurging out at a nice restaurant can be done for $15
a person in Mexico that compares to $60 a person in LA or SF. The Mexican will
graduate without any student loan debt while the American is paying every
month, so that nice restaurant will be out of reach in El Norte, anyway.

A fairly well paid engineer in Mexico might be making $2200 a month while his
American equivalent makes $7000, after taxes (think $100k-$140k US salary) . A
nice apartment in a fancy part of Mexico City suitable for a family might cost
$800 a month, but development policy has kept single family homes equally
affordable in central areas, too. Nice apartments in SF cost $3500 a month and
houses cost much more. Most professionals in urban Mexico don't need or want a
car, but in SF the engineer and his spouse will both spend so much time in one
that they'll need two nice cars and dedicated parking. Okay, I already can't
figure out how the US person can afford to have a family at all; maybe that's
why they don't. The Mexican engineer will be living pretty and thinking about
a third kid. And Gosh help the American if he ever needs health care.

On the other hand, the minimum wage for unskilled labor in Mexico is about $5
a day.

~~~
velodrome
How is the crime/education in Mexico City? Is it comparable?

~~~
WildUtah
Mexico City has crime rates comparable to California cities but higher than
NYC. It's considered the second safest metro in the country, after Mérida. The
drug traffic violence worries everyone but is mostly confined to border
states.

Education is complicated and very different from the USA. The local public
elementary school that I walked past every day seemed to have literate
students and attentive teachers working sincerely on education but there's a
scandal of unqualified teacher hiring and international test results from
rural areas are depressing. The neighborhood I lived in was considered
activist and organized so it may have been unrepresentative. The former leader
of the national teacher's union went to jail this year and the new president
is working on reforms.

Free guaranteed schooling ends after eight years. Competitive testing puts a
really large number of students into many different large but good public high
schools with serious academic focus. Those who don't pass or who want more
personalized or specialized attention can find private high schools ranging
from cheap to Manhattan prices.

Several nearly free universities comparable to good top-tier and second tier
state schools in the USA also take many students based on exams. More
expensive private schools are also available.

So if you train your kids right and play the game, quality education is very
cheap. If you let them screw up and get behind, it may cost a lot to get them
back on track.

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netcan
I think this is probably a part of a larger trend in migration. I lived in 2
countries as a child and 2 more as an adult. I'm 30. I think around 70% of of
my coworkers have lived in more than one country. Basically, migration isn't
an extreme decision anymore. Your lot doesn't need to be bad or hopeless to
migrate from Germany to Spain or spend a couple of years on Seol. The
difference in earnings/lifestyle doesn't need to be an order of magnitude. A
marginal improvement can be enough to move some people.

Wealthy modern states rely quite heavily on the middle class for taxes. Within
the middle class you'll find groups (eg single, childless, urban Europeans)
that pay very high taxes while consuming very few services. They earn via
highly taxable salaries. Most of their earnings are consumed and thus subject
to GST/VAT and excise taxes. They also play the real estate, credit card, car
financing, etc games that funnel money into finical institutions & industries
which are so important to the political-economic goals politicians take on.

The net result of this is that for a middle class household in a wealthy
country, wealth is somewhat of an illusion. Imagine a 30 year old unmarried
couple earning €100k - well off on paper. They can expect to pay about €30-35k
(depending on how the salary is split) in income tax. €1-€2k on flat taxes
(car tax, tv tax, local tax). Then 25-40% of the remaining on a mortgage - say
€21k. That leaves 40k-50k per year for taxable spending. Most of this will be
taxed at 23%. Some stuff like petrol, alcohol, tobacco & cars will be taxed at
a higher rate.

These people are still well off. It's hard not to be with to above average
salaries and no expensive children. But are not near as well off as their
earnings suggest they should be.

In some Eurpoean countries those taxes prop up a wasteful government. In some,
they are paying for recent bank bailouts. In some, they are paying for an
expensive legacy welfare state (with corresponding welfare class). In some,
they are paying for past infrastructure investments. The best run countries
(Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavian countries) do a good job of funneling
those revenues to the same people at different stages of their life. Only a
portion of most people's life is spent in this highly taxable, no need for
government services state. But even in these cases it might make sense for a
self interested individual to study at the countries expense and then earn
outside of their tax jurisdictions.

If middle class migration and 'shopping around' for high quality of living
becomes more prevalent, the tax revenue implications are enormous.

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avty
Texas is another one. Created more jobs than all 49 other states combined.

Actually, majority of other state lost jobs.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Unfortunately, the majority of those jobs are minimum wage jobs:
[http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/12/news/economy/perry_texas_job...](http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/12/news/economy/perry_texas_jobs/index.htm)

~~~
_delirium
Don't forget that those minimum-wage workers pay one of the highest
state/local tax rates in the nation for their income level: Texas taxes its
poorest quintile 12.6% of their meagre incomes through its various taxes, the
6th-highest rate in the nation.
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/09/21/th...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/09/21/the-
state-that-taxes-the-poor-the-most-is-a-blue-one)

~~~
nhebb
That's why I've never been a fan of sales taxes over income taxes. Texas, and
the other states listed in that piece, don't have an income tax but instead
rely on a sales tax and excise taxes (alcohol, tobacco, and gas) for revenues,
which are all very regressive.

~~~
eru
Just add a basic income, and it balances out, again.

