Drug War Violence is Destroying Mexico's Economy
According to a new expert analysis, Mexico's brutal drug war is costing the country a whole hell of a lot of money:
Tobias estimates the economic cost of Mexico’s violence is 2 percent to 3 percent of GDP, and the total cost is $120 billion, or about 12 percent of Mexico’s $1.085 trillion GDP in 2008. The estimate by Bulltick, a Miami-based brokerage with offices in four Latin American countries, includes prevention measures, prison costs, lost foreign direct investment and expenses to victims and businesses. [Bloomberg]
What I just can't understand, no matter how hard I try, is why on earth anyone ever expected a different outcome than this. It is literally the goal of Mexico's chief drug war strategists to reduce violence and save their nation's reputation. That is what they thought would happen if they cracked down on the drug trade. Instead, every single problem they sought to address has gotten worse.
And as bad as things have gotten, you can bet that the leaders of the Mexican drug war will look at this data and say that it shows the need for more aggressive strategies to finally defeat the cartels.
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Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 1:54amOf course the governments will see the errors of their ways!! Surrender is the only way for them to save their countries !! And major jail terms for the evil little people that try to control what others do and think. If it will end this WAR I'm all for it. Let it END !!!
Mexico Is A De Facto Narco State
Comment posted by Stephen on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 9:02amThings are way out of control in Mexico. Corruption is rampant inside the Mexican government and it goes all the way to the top. The government has decriminalized personal use of heroin, meth, crack, and just about any type of drug you can imagine. I'll assume this was the payoff Calderon agreed to in order for his security. Mexico is allowing illegal immigrants to continue to invade the US. A recent poll of Mexican citizens showed that one third of the population would immigrate to the US if it was possible. That's more than 33 MILLION Mexican citizens leaving Mexico like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Americans are bankrupt and unable to support millions of poor and uneducated immigrants. Unless this ends, a military response to the failed state of Mexico could be a possibility. If we are going to absorb Mexico's population, we may as well annex the land and resources as well.
Plan B: Unconditional Surrender
Comment posted by Giordano on Tue, 09/15/2009 - 7:01pmThe drug trade in Mexico is partly fueled by the poverty of its participants. Eliminate the poverty—good luck on that one—and the result will be huge numbers of people with extra money. What will these people do with their extra money? They’ll buy drugs, of course. So is the Mexican Drug War a war on drugs, or is Plan A simply designed to purge the poor?
Governments can ill afford to bankroll the drug warrior fetish. Unconditional surrender by all governments in the drug war is the only realistic and effective Plan B left.
Giordano