>>Can't really have any hard numbers - when this dispute started a couple of months ago, I've heard 9 million, 10 million, 11 million. Now I hear 12 or 13 from many sides. With even their total number being so foggy, what do we really know about any detailed statistics?
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>True enough.
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>>Seems to be based on cherrypicked statistics - it considers just the maquilladoras, and the general productivity rates. Assuming both statistics are right, then the Mexicans are working more and better for less money than before. And the article also doesn't account for the status of Mexican farmers, who are losing big time, confronted with imports of cheap subsidized dairy products from the north. Gives them all the incentive to stay at home and prosper, doesn't it?
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>How are they working for less money than before?
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>Regarding the Mexican farmers, I tend to agree. From my understanding, the U.S. heavily subsidizes agriculture. Admittedly, my understanding to what degree is small.


Your understanding is correct. The amount of money we (you, me, everyone) hand out in agricultural subsidies borders on criminal. And most of it goes to huge operations, not the mythologized single family farms of yore.

One of the dumbest government programs I have ever heard of is the way dairy subsidies work. They are based on the distance from Wisconsin. And lo and behold, Florida is now the leading dairy state. You probably wouldn't have guessed that, would you? This is what happens when the government starts throwing money around like a drunken sailor.