An Ever-Widening Wealth Gap in Mexico Is Stifling Economic Progress Financial Tribune
go to original January 7, 2017

Mexican hand-stitched football business could go under (CGTN America)

The southern state of Guerrero is a state in Mexico where inequality is a way of life. The plight of lifelong resident, Martin Visoso, is typical. Martin left his seasonal farming job to earn more money, making soccer balls at 50 cents a piece. And he’s still extremely poor.

At that rate, a person making seven soccer balls a day earns less than $3.50, not even enough to buy a single McDonald’s Big Mac, CCTV America reported.

The rural state of Guerrero generates on an average of around $3,500 a year for every person who lives in the city. In the urbanized federal state of Mexico City, the GDP per capita is more than $16,500 a year - a difference of more than 340%.

Overall, Mexico’s wealth gap is one of the worst in the Americas - here the wealthiest 1% own nearly half the country’s wealth.

As the gap widens here and in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the study suggests it could stifle economic growth beyond national borders. In today’s interconnected global economy, stagnation in one country can affect others.

In some rankings, Mexico is the world’s 12th largest economy. Mexico is a country of amazing contrasts and nowhere is the division between the wealthy and the impoverished more starkly illustrated than in the capital, Mexico City.

A wealthy district - with private schools offering tennis, basketball, and a well-maintained pool - right next door to a barrio which only has a misshapen football ground. Sometimes only a wall or a highway divides people whose incomes are a world apart.

“Mexico is also one of the most unequal countries in the world,” he said. “Significantly, much of that wealth is concentrated in just a few multimillionaires.”

Read the rest at Financial Tribune

Related: Latin America Losing Fight Against Malnutrition, Expert Says (Latin American Herald Tribune)

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