Isn't income and wealth distribution why Mexico is "poor"?

[Nikia]

I don't know as much about this as I would like, but from what I heard and read, Mexico had a better comparative standard of living in the past. Poverty became more common because the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. If this was not the case, it would have become more like Canada economically. I don't know if that is completely true. If it is true that the Mexican economy failed because of unequal income and wealth distribution, shouldn't everyone be concerned about what is happening in the U.S.? The U.S. could become a "third world" country true in 20 years.

[drb]

1. Ding! You win the gand prize for todays....

...economic analysis!

The nation with the greatest number of billionaires is the United States. The nation with the second higest number is Mexico. There's like two dozen ultra-uber-wealthy families that own the country, and basically everybody else has squat.

That's where we're heading - beans, tortillas, and a dirt floor. No medical insurance. Corporations do whatever the hell they feel like. Pollution is incredible. If you want clean water, you have to go buy bottled water, and five gallons of clean water costs about half a day's pay.

[leesa]

4. And their money is invested outside of Mexico.

Just like ours now is.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. an objective measure of inequality is the Gini Index

here's a list (the higher the number, the more unequal the income distribution): http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph-T/eco_dis_of_fam_inc_gin_ind&int=-1

Mexico is high (some countries, like Haiti, haven't been measured); but note that Brazil was higher (the figures are from the second half of the 90s).

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. The only people who should be concerned are the ones who aren't rich

So you better get rich quick.

[JohnnyFianna1]

3. Don't forget corruption in government n/t

[leesa]

5. Their government is an extension of the rich folk, like ours.

[swinney]

6. Like Haiti few rich rest po

In Haiti 5% own 95% of the wealth.

Invest in Haiti? Their investment is overseas.

[TheFarseer]

7. That's why you need a strong middle class

something the republicans have never learned. If you kill all the rich people and all the poor people, people from the middle class will replace them, but if you kill off the middle class, it will never come back and your contry becomes a crap-hole like Mexico or Haiti.

[Wapsie B]

11. That's right.

With a dwindling middle class how is a consumer driven economy supposed to survive? How are people going to buy new cars and houses and all the trinkets? Supply-siders left that out of the equation.

Welcome to DU!

[JPace]

8. I have heard that about 60 families in Mexico....

own almost the entire wealth of Mexico.
I have always been amazed that the citizens
have not had a revolution before now to
redistribute that wealth more fairly. It
is amazing how passive they are considering
the level of poverty they must endure.

[guajira]

10. On a Trip to Mexico, I Was told They don't have free education!

A guide told us that Mexican families have to pay to send their kids to high school, which explains why so many Mexicans have little education. Also, Mexico has a large population, Mexico City is the largest city in the world, with about 35 million or more.

For contrast, there is Cuba where school is free and mandatory. Everyone has to learn to read and write, and many go to college free. Also Cuban families are generally small, many with just 1 or 2 kids. Of course they still come to the US (in much smaller numbers), looking for the "American dream".