Photo: Xinhua/Francisco Canedo

By RICARDO CASTILLO   

Steering Away from Recession

The international rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s (S&P) keep bashing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) for done deals such as cancelling the behemoth construction of the New International México Airport (NAIM) in the dry Texcoco lakebed, saying that the decision “has deteriorated investors’confidence” in Mexico, according to the news agency Notimex.

Photo: Standard and Poor’s

Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, Economy Secretary Graciela Márquez announced that direct foreign investment in Mexico grew by $25.6 billion in the first nine months of 2019, for a total of 7.8 percent growth over the same period in 2018.

Also, the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) announced that on Tuesday, Nov. 26, it will announce its planned investment, mostly in infrastructure, for 2020.

Perhaps AMLO may be right in claiming that the rating companies are acting in ill faith in misjudging his administration.

Plus, S&P is forecasting a 0.4 GDP growth for 2019 — not great, but evidence that the nation is pulling out of recession quick sands. The general GDP growth forecast by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) foresees a growth at 0.2 percent for that same period.

As a cherry on AMLO’s cake, tycoon Carlos Slim fully backed the President calling investors to “jostle up” investment “so Mexico can have the growth it deserves.”

At least spirits are high in Mexico for the last quarter of the year.

AMLO Tops Best Seller List

AMLO’s new book “Toward a Moral Economy,” that was placed in the digital market place on Monday, Nov. 18, immediately became a bestseller on Amazon and Apple’s iBooks.

Photo: pulsoslp.com.mx

Amazon reported that AMLO’s book instantly became the most popular book in the company’s nonfiction economic policy and development section.

Amazon said that the sales of “Toward a Moral Economy” were even surpassing significantly Mexican economist Macario Schettino’s “One Hundred Years of Confusion” and Adam Smith’s fourth-place classic “The Wealth of Nations.”

The Kindle edition of “Toward a Moral Economy” sells for about 140 pesos, and the hard-cover version of the book is due out on Nov. 27.

Buen Fin Sales Soar

The ninth Buen Fin (Good End) yearly November sale over the past weekend registered global sales of 120 billion pesos, a hefty increase over last year’s Buen Fin, which registered sales of 112.4 billion pesos.

Photo: imagenzac.com.mx

The president of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism, José Manuel López Campos, made the announcement Thursday, Nov. 21, during AMLO’s daily morning press conference at the National Palace.

“Expectations were exceeded, and, based on preliminary figures, we can predicy a 7 percent increase over 2018,” he said.

”Actually, our expectations were for a 5 percent sales increase, for a total of 118 billion pesos.”

Sports: Soccer, King of Sports

It used to be in the old days that baseball was touted as the “King of Sports.” Not anymore.

A new economic study published by bank BBVA Bancomer – which sponsors the Mexican Soccer League – said that soccer accounts for 54 percent of the sports show business industry gross domestic income.

Photo: Father Ian Van Heusen

The comparison includes live concerts and theater income, as well as all other sports.

The economic study was carried out by Associated Group of Economists (GEA), with total sales during 2018 of 55.8 billion pesos.

The GEA economists claim that the natural next step for soccer teams is to start quoting in the stock exchange, as is already done by some British teams.

The cash flow is huge and it is accompanied by sales on television broadcasts, teams’ brand marketing and the BBVA MX Bancomer sponsored league.

It’s a river of money, as the Mexican expression goes.