Border week: Exhibit of Tijuana artist Benjamin Serrano

By: Sandra Dibble

Source: www.utsandiego.com

Long before the current generation of Tijuana artists began commanding international attention, there was Benjamin Serrano.

An exhibit of 55 pieces by the late Tijuana artist (1938-1988) opens on Friday at 7 p.m. the El Cubo Gallery of Tijuana's Cultural Center (Cecut). It includes sculptures and paintings never before on display in the city.

Serrano, who for a time studied in Paris, "is the first artist on the border that puts Tijuana in the international sphere," said curator olgaMargarita Davila.

The exhibit is scheduled through November. There is no admission charge to attend the inauguration. Normal entrance fees to El Cubo are $3.50.

Other notable events in the Baja California region from Monday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 12th incude the following:

Thursday: The pioneering Tijuana punk rock band Mercado Negro performs at the old City Hall on Avenida Constitución and Second Street starting at 6 p.m. Free.

Thursday: Ensenada Street Art Festival celebrating young artists and groups that focus on unconventional art, including mimes, acrobats, performance artists, and painting on concrete. Includes performances by rock bands. Starts at 5 p.m. outside the Centro Estatal de las Artes. Free.

Friday: Festival featuring Baja California wines, local musical groups and food at Bodegas de Santo Tomás in Ensenada at Miramar 666, Zona Centro. Starting at 2 p.m. Free. (The event is part of the Fiestas de la Vendimia, a series of events celebrating the annual grape harvest. Through Aug. 19.)

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By: Sanoviv

Source: www.sanoviv.com/medical-services/

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Mexico's Economy: Coming to Terms with China

By: Sean Goforth

Source: mexicotoday.org

Has China’s economic rise come at the expense of Mexico? To many casual observers and experts alike, the answer is yes. The International Economy, a trade journal, once concluded, “China is eating Mexico’s lunch.” “China competes with Mexico and buys from Brazil,” noted The New York Times on June 17. 

China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 marked the onset of a decade-long slowdown in Mexico, where economic growth averaged 1.8 percent annually. Foreign investment flocked to China, setting up factories where hourly wages were among the lowest in the world. Other factors supported China’s export-led growth model, including low fuel prices that allowed for profitable trans-Pacific shipment of manufactures. Seven years after NAFTA granted Mexico privileged access to the US market, Mexico’s position appeared undercut by China’s incorporation into the global economy. 

In some industries, such as clothing assembly, China certainly hurt Mexico. However, the impact has been more limited than widely supposed.  China and Mexico manufacture different classes of products, cheap baubles in the case of the former and heavy industrial goods in the case of the latter. Hence, as the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank put it in 2004: “There is little correlation between China’s gains and Mexico’s losses.”

The notion that Mexico simply lost out to a more productive China is even less persuasive as one moves toward present-day. From 2005-2010, the percentage of US imports from Mexico increased, from about 10 to 12 percent, as did China’s share, 14 to 17.5 percent. China’s gains accrued alongside Mexico’s gains, not at the expense of Mexico. (Over the same period, the percentage of US imports from Canada, Japan, Germany and Britain decreased.)

Instead, in this more recent period Mexico may have lost out by not having China as an investor. According to the UN Economic Commission on Latin America, China invested $1.1 billion in Mexican industry from 2003-2008, a sliver given the $25 billion it invested across Latin America in 2008 alone. In a list of China’s largest foreign investments in Latin America prior to 2009, Mexico is notably absent. 

Now, as the global economy shifts gears away from the commodity boom brought on by Asia’s rise, several trends behoove Mexico. China has absorbed most of its vast labor pool, driving up wages. Wages in southeastern China are increasing at 15 percent a year, and for the country as a whole worker pay is expected to double by 2015. Inflation is a worry as food prices and apartment rents shadow wage increases. As a result, the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that hourly wages in China are nearly on par with Mexico’s. 

Mexico's Stocks Open Higher, Peso Gains versus U.S. Dollar

By: Anthony Harrup

Source: online.wsj.com

MEXICO CITY--Mexico's stocks opened higher Monday in line with equities markets overseas, while the peso continued its recent positive run against the U.S. dollar.

The stock market's benchmark IPC index was up 0.2% at 41,071 points around 10:10 a.m. EDT, on volume of 18 million shares worth 485.7 million pesos ($37.2 million).

With the IPC near record levels in both nominal and dollar terms, upside potential is limited and the market remains vulnerable to renewed bouts of global volatility, Banco Santander said in a report.

The Mexican stock market has been one of the most defensive in the world, although the gains have also put it among the most expensive, Santander added.

Cement company Cemex (CEMEX.MX, CX) CPO shares were up 0.8% to MXN9.58, and retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico V shares were up 0.8% to MXN39.12. Brewer Modelo (GMODELO.MX, GPMCY) C shares were 0.9% lower at MXN118.51.

Mexico's peso continued to chalk up gains, after reaching its strongest close in three months following last Friday's better-than-expected U.S. payrolls report. The peso was trading in Mexico City at MXN13.0750 to the dollar, according to Infosel, compared with MXN13.1380 at the close Friday.

Banorte-Ixe said the peso's current level, given the vulnerability of emerging market currencies to global risk aversion, makes dollar positions attractive in the near term. The bank predicted a trading range of MXN13.00 to MXN13.45 for this week.

Rental Market Still Tightening: Moody’s

By: Miguelsmexico

Source: www.mexintl.com/blog/beaches

With vacancies declining and rental prices rising, the climate in the housing industry is clearly warming up to rental properties. According to Moody’s Analytics, “weak income gains, favorable demographics, and the foreclosure crises” are all causing people to choose renting over buying, and demand for rent will remain solid over the next two years.

Between 2000 and 2008, real per capita income grew at an annualized rate of 2 percent compared to 0.8 percent in 2010 and 2011, according to the report. In addition, many households simply don’t have enough for a down payment, and until households gain more in terms of finances or confidence in the economy, fears of homeownership won’t be put aside.

A survey released by Integra Realty Resources reported 31 percent of respondents said a lack of a down payment was the main reason holding them back from making a purchase, 24 percent said it was the fear of making a bad investment, and 21 percent said the uncertainty of the economy was the main reason.

Another reason the rental market is booming is because of the emergence of a younger age group heading households. The younger age group are the least likely to own a home and more likely to rent, according to Moody’s.

While the overall rental rate is 35 percent, the renter rate for those between the ages of 25-29 is nearly 65 percent, and for those under 24 years old, it is 77 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

And, growth for those between the ages of 20-29 is not likely to slow down, either. The report stated that this group has been growing at an average pace of 0.9 percent from 2007-2011 and grew only 0.3 percent between 1990 and 2006.

Harnessing the power of the ocean

By: Selene Aparicion

Source: www.renewableenergymexico.com

In the eternal search for alternative sources of energy, scientists throughout the world have turned their attention to the planet’s most abundant natural resource: the ocean. Wave and tidal power technologies, as renewable energy sources, represent large areas of untapped energy potential. This is no surprise. After all, the ocean covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and contains 97% of the planet’s water.

The sea offers a vast source of power and the energy contained in waves has the potential to produce up to 80,000 TWh of electricity per year—sufficient to meet our global energy demand five times over. When it comes to generating energy from the ocean, two types of energy forms exist: tidal power and wave power.

Tidal power, as the name clearly states, is generated from oceanic tides where the rise and fall of the sea level can be utilized to produce electricity. Tidal power is usually exploited through the construction of dams across tidal basins where a channel allows the tide to flow into the basin and the elevated water is transformed into electricity through conventional hydro power technologies such as turbines.

Wave power, on the other hand, utilizes the kinetic energy present in the movement of the ocean’s waves and this energy is then used to power a turbine. Renewable energy analysts believe there is enough energy in the ocean waves to provide up to 2 terawatts of instantaneous electricity (1 terawatt = 1 trillion watts), which is twice the electric generating capacity currently available throughout the world.

At present, Mexico is known for its beaches with clear blue water and white sand; however, now the country has the possibility to gain a different type of reputation for its sea-side spots. After a two year period from when the idea was first suggested, last month the CFE confirmed its plans to construct a wave power station in Rosarito, Baja California with an investment cost of 71.6 million MXP. The power station will have a generation capacity of 3 MW and will be constructed in a five-month period by Mareomotrices de Energías Renovables (Marersa), Integragas Telcorz and Grupo Nuhe. Construction began on June 2nd and the project is due for completion on December 10th of the current year.

Mexican president to visit Ensenada on Friday

By: SanDeigoRed.com

Source: www.sandiegored.com

STAFF.- The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, will visit the Guadalupe Valley, in Ensenada, next Friday according to the Social Communications Department of the State Government.

Calderón will inaugurate the Wine Museum as well as meeting with local authorities to tackle border issues.

This will be the President's second visit to Baja California this year; his last visit was back in January for the ceremonial inauguration of the El Chaparral Bridge in Tijuana and to announce the first stage of the Strategic Economic Zone (ZEE in Spanish), a new tax exemption system for the region.