Economic Cow Power

There are so many questions about the current world economic situation and how it deteriorated to the extent that it has that I don't think they will ever be answered adequately. Most of the explanations seem to involve smoke and mirrors of one kind or another that are not fully explainable. How can one wrap one's head around something like that? Let's see...we have bullish and bearish speculation, hedge funds, market derivatives, sub-prime lending, mortgage bundling, excessive executive compensation, outrageous incentive bonuses, tax shelters, insurance schemes, mergers, partnerships, acquisitions, initial public offerings, Ponzi schemes, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Heaven only knows what else. So what happened to the economy? In short, one day somebody sneezed and the curtain fell and everyone realized that there was no value there, only empty promises, and people began to shout, “Where's the beef?”.

With all of the criticism that Mexico receives in the United States it is ironic to note that at present Mexico is solvent and is not in a recession. This is in contrast to the United States, Japan, and most of Europe. Perhaps here in Mexico there has been so much economic pain over the years that people have finally learned to look at things a little differently. Anyone who has lived in Mexico for a number of years, especially in a small town or community, realizes that people are not so quick to spend money on something unless they have examined it from all sides. When you get out in the sticks money just doesn't seem to matter as much as absolute value does. More often than not goods and services are traded to a large extent and at times no money at all changes hands for goods received or services rendered.

Because we are asking “Where's the beef?” let's examine a situation involving a cow. When a farmer needs to have his old truck motor rebuilt he takes an extra cow that he has down the road to the local mechanic and cuts a deal to get the truck fixed in return for the cow. The mechanic takes the cow down the road to the tailor and cuts a deal to have a new suit made for his son's wedding. The tailor takes the cow down the road to the roofer and cuts a deal to get his roof repaired and on down the road goes the cow doing good wherever it stops until it finally ends up at the “matadero” or “slaughterhouse”. Seems like a shame to kill the cow after all the good it has done but unless the cow dies the bills don't get paid. However, even after the cow dies it is divided up into various cuts of meat that are distributed to butcher shops and restaurants and the parts of the cow keep working until the people of the community are nourished by the cow and it becomes part of their physical well being. So where is the cow? It didn't just disappear. The cow is us. Now THAT is value!