Tea at Trianon: How to Fix Mexico

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, March 11, 2016

How to Fix Mexico

From The National Interest:

Corruption dominates Mexico’s headlines: helicopter rides for officials’ family members, housing deals from favored government contractors, the still unexplained disappearance of 43 students and a drug lord escaping a maximum-security prison, for the second time. In a recent survey, Mexicans listed corruption as the country’s top problem, ahead of security and the economy.

In absolute terms corruption eats away at Mexico’s growth. The think tank IMCO estimates the costs at $53 billion, or five percent of GDP. It increases the costs of doing business, with bribes for permits and government contracts tacking on up to ten percent according to Transparency International. And business owners face an uneven playing field—65 percent report that on at least one occasion a competitor offered a bribe or tapped personal relationships to win new business. By undercutting the market, corruption stifles excellence, deters investment and hinders growth.

Corruption also distorts public spending. Studies show corrupt public officials direct funds to projects more amenable to personal enrichment than those that offer the highest public returns. This means they overweight spending on (often shoddy) infrastructure and underfund education, health, and other human capital building services—the very skills needed for a twenty-first century economy and society.

Lastly, corruption delegitimizes the state and undercuts democracy. The belief by two-thirds of Mexican citizens that their taxes line the pockets of officials fuels the informal sector and limits the collection of government revenue necessary to provide public services: education, healthcare, and basic safety. And it threatens Mexico’s democratic gains. When citizens know about corruption and nothing is done—as is the case in Mexico, where impunity reigns—voter turnout falls. (Read more.)