Sunday, February 27, 2011

Mexico and the United States--Mirror Economies

Again today I was reminded of the differences between the United States and Mexico.  A few days ago I bought a bag of dog bones from the pet shop. The bag cost 110 pesos. That is $9.07 in American dollars. In the States I could have gotten a bag that size for one dollar. Today, Sunday, the water pump went out where I am house sitting and I had to call the plumber. He fixed it in less than twenty minutes. He charged 100 pesos.  In American money that is $8.07. 

Labor here is usually cheap..... Products can be very expensive.   This is a mirror of the States where you can buy a used bike at a yard sale for five dollars but you have to pay the bike repair people maybe a hundred to get it working properly. Here, you might have to pay a hundred dollars for a used bike at a yard sale but you could get it fixed for maybe ten dollars.  This is a good thing to remember when you live here.

2 comments:

  1. So is the supply of used products stopped at the border? It sounds like a truckload of used bikes would make some money for an enterprising Mexican.

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  2. Hi G.David, Thank you for writing. Yes, I have seen yard sales with goodwill tags on used clothing. The main problem is the expense of bringing things down and crossing the border with them. You might get a huge customs tax put on the things. Patricia

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