Tag Archives: economy

in english

Monocle’s Mexican fixes

I'm a big fan of Monocle magazine, and was quite amused when they talked about their main tips for the Mexican government in the year to come, which I quote below:

  1. Streamline the tax system and make it easier for people to pay.
  2. Stop police corruption by hiring better-educated cops and paying them more.
  3. Create a third television network so the media is not in the hands of so few.

Even though all are relevant and rather urgent, the first one was the one that got me thinking.  One of the things that works especially well in Finland compared to Mexico is the taxation system. 

We might disagree on the amount of taxes you have to pay (that's a whole other discussion), but it is amazingly easy to pay them: you only give an estimate at the beginning of the year, get a tax card, give it to your employer and then taxes are discounted automatically during that fiscal year (which is the same as the calendar year). If your estimate was off the mark, you can check your pre-filled tax return the next May, and you may even get a refund the next December.  In 7 years I've never needed to ask any help from an accountant, and I've never had a problem.

No wonder Mexican tax payment levels are lower than Botswana's compared to GDP.  Can they try to improve this for the new year?

in english

Visiting Mexico City

The lack of posts during July was caused by a well-deserved holiday in Mexico (pictures, videos) and subsequent return and catch up with work.

One thing that surprised me quite a bit on this last visit was the amount of new shopping centres opening in the city, and the amount of people visiting them not only for the sights but also with plenty of full shopping bags regardless of the fact that it was indeed that time of the year when sales and discounts are in full-force.

Given that and the strength of the superpeso (which is now trading at record highs against the dollar and has also gained against the euro) I saw a rather optimistic picture of the Mexican economy. Let’s hope it lasts given the U.S slowdown.

in english

Banking as a foreigner

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From my experience, I would say that in general Finland has a very modern, developed banking system.  I haven't seen a cheque since I moved here (thank the Lord), and you can handle most of your affairs electronically.  Personal service is not as consistent.

In general, over the counter service is pretty friendly and at the bank you also have access to an advisor.  The issue I encountered, however, was when checking with other banks about mortgage options.  Whereas my bank treated me really well, the same was not repeated when checking out with another.  Although I understand perfectly (especially with the current economic climate) why they would be cautious, some of the reactions from the bank representative puzzled me a little bit.

We were discussing our background and when we mentioned that I am also educated her answer was something along the lines of "Really?".  When she asked for my profession she was also rather sceptic, but the one that really made me unease about the whole deal was when she asked for my job title, as she suggested "So, are you an assistant?" which was completely out of line with what I had told her about my professional experience, meaning that basically she didn't believe anything I said, even though all of that is easily cross-referenceable, e.g. my income.

When I mentioned the issue to my mates, they suggested that I shouldn't have spoken Finnish to the person at all even though I'm fluent.  I wonder what kind of prejudices kicked in?

in english

Immigrant entrepreneurs

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I've read a couple of stories about immigrants and their children starting up their own companies here in Finland, especially in the service sector.  There are two companies whose services I use that are founded by immigrants: my barber (Figaro barbers in the corner of Albertinkatu & Uudenmaankatu, Helsinki) and one of my favourite fast-food places (Habibi Lebanese cuisine in Forum, Helsinki).

Given the simple facts that there are quite many barriers to open a business (capital investment required, cultural, regulatory, etc) I find their belief in their success quite admirable.

I'm just waiting to see when would somebody open a proper Mexican restaurant, as the stuff hereabouts is Tex-Mex.  Maybe I'll have to do it when I retire.  Mole poblano and tacos al pastor anyone?

in english

Dependent on cars


Dependent on cars
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

I don’t have a car. I used to, but sold it when I moved to Brussels and when I came back I didn’t really see the need for it, since in the Helsinki metro area we tend to have pretty decent public transportation.
it was not a surprise, but definitely a noticeable difference to see that the city of Seattle (as many other cities in the United States) is built around the car, to the extent that you get commuting times in the local news right after the weather report.
No surprise the price of oil has everybody up in arms.

in english

Work in Finland


Work in Finland
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

This is a marketing campaign for Kauppalehti, the leading Finnish business daily that brings forward the labour shortage in Finland. The English language version of the online component of the campaign is actually quite bad, whereas the Finnish one has real content in it.  I guess that contrary to what the campaign seems to be about, they didn’t care too much about the immigrant / foreign audience after all.

Funnily enough, there was a completely wasted bum/drunk just next to this ad, but I couldn’t bring myself to take that picture. I guess it would have been too poignant of a social commentary.

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British transport infrastructure

Is worse than in some "third world" countries I know.  I was there the fatidic day of the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5, but fortunately in another section of the airport so wasn't affected.

Paddington
Paddington

However, my Heathrow Express train from Paddington was delayed for almost an hour, as the thing just decided to stop dead in the beginning of the journey (but outside the station).  Since I've already experienced  quite a few problems in the tube during previous trips, I really wonder when (if ever) they will get their act together.  I'm just amazed by the rivers of money flushed down the toilet because of downtime…

in english

Recommended Book: The Flight of the Creative Class

I've followed Richard Florida's theories for a few years.  Building upon The Rise of the Creative Class, where he introduced us to his model whereupon a certain group of people whose job relies not only on the consumption of knowledge, but also on the creation of it, and how the world economy is changing, he introduces this book where he expands on the concept and what does it mean for individuals and countries.

The edition I bought starts with his essay The World is Spiky where he critiques The World is Flat, saying that it only looks flat from one peak to the next, but there's plenty of places that haven't yet gotten connected.

Furthermore, the whole idea of the book is simply that the people constituting this creative class are highly mobile and will settle wherever they see fit, therefore having a huge influence in the prosperity of the places they choose.  According to his analysis, this choice is guided by 3 factors: Talent, Tolerance & Technology, and he goes on identifying places in the United States and abroad that are doing all they can to attract and retain their "brains".

Whereas his results for North America seem well founded, he tends to get in a flimsier position when identifying creative class hubs outside of that zone.  He, for example, lumps Helsinki-Tampere-Oulu as an area (which is rather like talking about Brussels, Barcelona and London being in the same neighbourhood). 

There are, however, certain things that leaders in Finland should take to heart, as he mentions explicitly in page 173: "Not all cities are able to compete effectively for global talent.  There are a signficant number… indicating that they are either attracting a very narrow band of immigrants or not attracting many immigrants period.  Cities in this group include… the Scandinavian centers of Helsinki and Oslo.  These places are challenged by their lack of appeal to global talent and will need to improve their diversity and tolerance if they wish to compete at the global cutting edge."

In other words: your educational system is excellent, your use of technology second to none, but the lack of diversity puts a hold on the ideas and points of view you can create here, which is a definite minus in these terms.  As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of foreigners here who work as hard as everybody else here, and not feeling welcome will make them leave, taking their skills with them.  Furthermore, as more and more Finns get to know and appreciate that kind of diversity somewhere else, they will also leave.

For Mexico there is also a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, but I have mostly covered them in another post.  Further moderation of Mexican racist attitudes would also be most welcome.

in english

Thoughts on the Mexican golden calf

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Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly, is on dire straits.  The source of around 30% of the government budget, it has issues with the union, the lack of productivity and of technology for deep sea drilling, where the last known reserves are expected to be.  Reform, however, is not an option since the oil industry in Mexico is intimately tied to arcane notions of nationhood.

For an overview of the situation, Bloomberg and Paco Calderón give the basics.

Of course, that's what happens when you treat an industry like the golden calf.