Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Peso falls at the same time as Chapo
The Chinese box method
Border-crossers and Tijuanese usually carry both currencies in their wallet.
Video:
Trailer for La Dictadura Perfecta
“We need to find another news story for people to get distracted; we call it la caja China (Chinese box).” That’s a translated line from a Mexican movie that came out in 2014 named La Dictadura Perfecta (The Perfect Dictatorship). The movie depicts the sad reality of corruption that the Mexican government is currently in.
When the news of El Chapo’s recapture came out, many Mexicans untrustworthy of their own government felt that they had again used the Chinese box method to distract the people from the real issues. Chapo’s second arrest came out at the exact time that the Mexican peso suffered even a greater devaluation.
“For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are,” Nicollo Machiavelli wrote in The Prince. The Mexican government has taken Machiavelli’s advice since its inception as the general population remains ignorant of the real issues or simply does not care (Mexico was ranked as the most ignorant nation for 2015 in several sources, followed by India and then Brazil).
The failing economy is not the only problem the government is trying to hide as explanations for the 43 students and the mansion that Mexico’s first lady bought with “her own cash” are still a mystery. The government keeps using the caja China method as important soccer games are scheduled on election day and soap operas dominate prime time. El Chapo’s capture pretty much reads like a soap opera, filled with drama and famous actors.
Currently, a dollar is equal to 17.89 pesos. Last year, the peso lost around 37.5% of its buying power — it went from being around 12 pesos for a dollar to 16.5 pesos. The trend seems to be continuing this year as the peso keeps sinking, reaching its lowest point in history at 18 pesos for a dollar. The Euro sells for 19.5 pesos.
“El billete de 20 pesos es el nuevo dollar,” I overheard in a money exchange hut as I was in line to switch my dollars to pesos. I agree with the sentiment, as it feels like the peso is headed that way. Many remember when the dollar was worth around 10 pesos, a nice round number. This changed in 2008 when it went up 20-30%, averaging 12-13 pesos for a dollar. It was an awkward exchange rate which many still rounded down to 10 pesos in their mind. With the dollar closing in at 20, the one peso coin would be a nickel, two pesos a dime, five pesos a quarter (better known as cora in Tijuana). The ten-peso coin is worth two quarters and, just like the penny, the 50 Mexican cents coin is useless.
George Washington's USD voter ID (IFE) in Mexico
The joke when the peso reached 15, was to celebrate its Quinceañera party. When it reached 17, the joke was a song by Los Angeles Azules that talks about being in love with a 17-year-old. Now the joke is that the George Washington is old enough to vote. Here’s his voter ID.
When it reaches 20 pesos, Chapo will escape again.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Peso falls at the same time as Chapo
The Chinese box method
Peso falls at the same time as Chapo
The Chinese box method
Border-crossers and Tijuanese usually carry both currencies in their wallet.
Video:
Trailer for La Dictadura Perfecta
“We need to find another news story for people to get distracted; we call it la caja China (Chinese box).” That’s a translated line from a Mexican movie that came out in 2014 named La Dictadura Perfecta (The Perfect Dictatorship). The movie depicts the sad reality of corruption that the Mexican government is currently in.
When the news of El Chapo’s recapture came out, many Mexicans untrustworthy of their own government felt that they had again used the Chinese box method to distract the people from the real issues. Chapo’s second arrest came out at the exact time that the Mexican peso suffered even a greater devaluation.
“For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are,” Nicollo Machiavelli wrote in The Prince. The Mexican government has taken Machiavelli’s advice since its inception as the general population remains ignorant of the real issues or simply does not care (Mexico was ranked as the most ignorant nation for 2015 in several sources, followed by India and then Brazil).
The failing economy is not the only problem the government is trying to hide as explanations for the 43 students and the mansion that Mexico’s first lady bought with “her own cash” are still a mystery. The government keeps using the caja China method as important soccer games are scheduled on election day and soap operas dominate prime time. El Chapo’s capture pretty much reads like a soap opera, filled with drama and famous actors.
Currently, a dollar is equal to 17.89 pesos. Last year, the peso lost around 37.5% of its buying power — it went from being around 12 pesos for a dollar to 16.5 pesos. The trend seems to be continuing this year as the peso keeps sinking, reaching its lowest point in history at 18 pesos for a dollar. The Euro sells for 19.5 pesos.
“El billete de 20 pesos es el nuevo dollar,” I overheard in a money exchange hut as I was in line to switch my dollars to pesos. I agree with the sentiment, as it feels like the peso is headed that way. Many remember when the dollar was worth around 10 pesos, a nice round number. This changed in 2008 when it went up 20-30%, averaging 12-13 pesos for a dollar. It was an awkward exchange rate which many still rounded down to 10 pesos in their mind. With the dollar closing in at 20, the one peso coin would be a nickel, two pesos a dime, five pesos a quarter (better known as cora in Tijuana). The ten-peso coin is worth two quarters and, just like the penny, the 50 Mexican cents coin is useless.
George Washington's USD voter ID (IFE) in Mexico
The joke when the peso reached 15, was to celebrate its Quinceañera party. When it reached 17, the joke was a song by Los Angeles Azules that talks about being in love with a 17-year-old. Now the joke is that the George Washington is old enough to vote. Here’s his voter ID.
When it reaches 20 pesos, Chapo will escape again.
Comments