Privatizing Pemex?

Mexican President Fox had a substantial reform agenda when he took office in 2000. Among the proposed reforms were privatization of government employee pensions, complete fiscal reform, and privatization of the energy sector, including both Pemex and electricity. So far, the administration hasn’t made much progress on its neoliberal reform agenda; competitive politics seems to keep getting in the way. With just one legislative session left in his administration, Fox has stepped up plans to privatize public sector pensions and allow private investment in the petroleum sector.

Essentially, revenues from the state-owned oil company, Pemex, have been used to support the government and too little has been invested in the petroleum infrastructure. (Petroleum is largest source of GDP in Mexico. Tourism is the second largest source of GDP, though some estimate that remittances from Mexican workers in the US may move into second place sometime this year or next.) Now that the Pemex infrastructure needs significant investment, some politicians are calling for private investment in petroleum development. Some on the left want to allow private pension fund administrators (Afores) to invest in domestic petroleum. Others want to open it up to both domestic and foreign investors.

It appears Fox is making one last push to get a reform that would allow some private investment and participation in the petroleum sector in Mexico. Opposition will be fierce, and some say it’s the beginning of a slippery slope to privatization. There’s also a proposal to develop the natural gas market, as well.

New Social Statistics Blog, led by Gary King

According to the email sent to the POLMETH list, the new blog has been:

…created by a group of graduate student affiliates of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard and me [Gary King]. The graduate students represent a wide range of academic disciplines, and plan daily posts intended to make public some of the hallway conversations about social science statistical methods and analysis at the Institute. We plan to cover a wide range of topics including current methodological trends, ongoing research results, papers presented (and discussion at) recent conferences and seminars. Some of the first posts are about the summer meetings of the Society for Political Methodology just held at FSU. Comments posted from those interested are encouraged.

I wonder what Tribble (via) would think of a Harvard grad student that blogs? Would they hire a Harvard blogger? Do Harvard bloggers get special permission to be creative, interesting and blog, while mere mortals must blog for all the wrong reasons? That a leading political scientist would organize a group of graduate students into a blog suggests, to me at least, that the Tribbles of the academic world may eventually be proven wrong.

What? APSA meetings boring?

Or, so the article in The Roll Call suggests.

The article, At Poli Sci Conference, Even the Wonks are Bored [sub required], begins thus:

Only an hour into the start of last week’s annual gathering of the American Political Science Association, Henry Kim, a doctoral student at the University of California at San Diego, is already playing hooky.

It’s “5 a.m. to us,” harrumphs a bleary-eyed Kim, as he hunches over his Starbucks coffee in the lobby of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. After a cross-country flight and little sleep, Kim has no intention of attending any of the morning’s first slate of panels. Nor for that matter do his buddies Justin Phillips and Nathan Batto….

And

…But back to Kim and his buddies, who don’t appear that enamored with their fellow political scientists, either.
“It’s a boring crowd,” says Phillips, an assistant professor at Columbia University. “It can be a little on the dry side.”

Case in point: When Batto, a classmate of Kim’s at UC San Diego, points out a late-morning session on “Advances in Roll Call Analysis,” Phillips just rolls his eyes and laughs. “I will not be going to a panel on roll call votes,” he cracks.

Their sentiment is shared by prominent political scientist Stephen Wayne, who first started attending the 101-year-old conference in the 1960s as a graduate student. “I’m a glutton for punishment,” he quips, adding that he has no intention of going to any of the “proliferation” of mainly “boring” (and often sparsely attended) panel discussions, opting instead for a roundtable on political psychology…

And…as Paul pointed out, we’re poorly dressed in addition to being boring. From the Roll Call:

When it comes to the cool department, [Jeremy] Elkins says, most political scientists are woefully lacking, opting for spectacles and conservative suits. The wannabes, Elkins says, “dress in all black” or wear “workshirts” like his pal Norris. “You can be cool in political science and in the rest of the world you are just a big dork,” he adds. “Here, if your pocket protector is mauve you are cool.”

Within minutes, as if on cue, another friend, Joe Mink, a professor at Mount Holyoke College who hails from Texas and is clad in all-black, heads over to shake hands with Elkins. Mink describes his style as “alt-country” and shows off his stingray cowboy boots. “They sparkle in the sunlight,” he notes proudly.

But Mink appears to be in the minority when it comes to shining shoes.

The attendant of the hotel’s shoe-shining stand, Perry Ross, sits idly, with few immediate hopes of a customer. There may be no scarcity of shoes “that need service,” Ross says, but “they won’t come over. It’s the worst [conference] I’ve ever seen. … I don’t think I’d be a political scientist after seeing them.”

Conference fun

I didn’t attend APSA last week but will be attending a smaller conference this week. I’ve recently decided that smaller, focused conferences are more fruitful for disseminating research and networking than the big APSA-style events.

Just think, how many times have you heard someone complain at APSA that everyone walks around staring at everyone else’s name badge to figure out if they are worth talking to or acknowledging?

Well, I’ve come across (thanks to Brian) name badges that could make staring at everyone’s chest at conferences even more interesting.

Essentially, the badges have 4 LED lights that light up when you get within infrared range of other attendees with similar profiles. So, if Paul was standing in line to use the email stations at APSA and another public opinion researcher was waiting in line behind him, their badges would light up. And, Paul would automatically download all of that person’s contact information into his badge!

How creepy cool is that?

Mungowitz for Gubner?

Possibly, but only if NC will allow the Libertarians to appear on the ballot. Chris’s MungowitzWatch notes that Munger published this piece criticizing NC policies that effectively shut out third party or independent candidates. At the end, it indicates Munger’s intentions to run if the Libertarians are allowed on the next ballot.

NC is certainly not the only state with restrictive ballot rules. Kinky is also facing an uphill battle to get on the ballot in Texas.

Mexican social security news

Considering the tendency in Mexico to use social policies for political gain, the Secretary of Health, Julio Frenk, insisted this week that Seguro Popular , a program providing health insurance to those not covered by social security, would not be used for political purposes by the president’s party, the PAN. The criticism would be that benefits are targeted to current PAN supporters or selectively given to potential PAN supporters, rather than being distributed according to objective criteria of need or eligibility. In general, since Zedillo, most targeted poverty programs have received better marks for not being so obviously politically manipulated, but recent studies, including an on-going one by a Berkeley student, suggest that programs are still targets for political manipulation, at least at the margin. (I would link to her work, but it’s not online, that I know of.)

As a follow-up to my on-going coverage of the conflict between the social security union and the social security administration, there are two important items to report. You can find background on the conflict at these posts.

First, as many of the people I interviewed predicted, the courts rejected the union’s petition for an injunction against the law passed in August 2004 that changes the pension system for all new social security workers. The union can appeal again, but it is more likely that the union will look for new ways to fight the administration’s attempts to curtail their benefits and cut labor costs.

Second, the union’s claim that failures of the administration to efficiently collect and handle resources may represent that new strategy. The union is claiming that mismanagement has cost social security $1,500 million pesos (about 1.3 million US$). The claim was made at the presentation of a new book by the union:

En la presentación del libro La lucha de los trabajadores del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social 2003-2004, de Eduardo Pérez Saucedo, actual secretario del exterior del sindicato, los expertos hicieron una recapitulación de lo que ha significado la administración de Levy para el deterioro del instituto y el menoscabo de las relaciones laborales.

Pérez Saucedo hizo ver que el propósito de la investigación es dejar una memoria de la batalla que han librado los trabajadores para defender sus derechos laborales; evidenciar y documentar la política anti laboral del actual director del IMSS, así como la intentona por privatizar este instituto, entre otros de seguridad social.

Pérez Saucedo was one of several union leaders that I interviewed in May or June, and he was finishing this book at the time of our interview. I think it’s interesting that he is quoted as arguing that one of the intentions of the IMSS administration is to privatize the institution, something I have suggested may be a motive for confronting the union.

Others at the book presentation included a former Director of the social security institute in the 1980s, whom I have also interviewed before.

One researcher who consistently criticizes the social security administration was also there to point out that salaries and labor costs of the administration have increased by 400% over the last few years.

The court decision and the union’s criticisms of the administration are all going to color the upcoming labor contract negotiations that will occur before October.

They’ve got to be kidding

But they weren’t. Some of my students last night told me that lines at local gas stations were long and that prices had topped $5 in some places in Atlanta. I was incredulous, of course, as I am with most things students tell me.


From 11Alive.com

But, it appears to be true. Some gas stations raised prices, and rumors were spreading via email in Atlanta that Katrina would make gas scarce. So, everyone rushed to fill up their SUVs so that they could commute at least two more days between their suburb and central Atlanta.

In response, the Governor issued an executive order to implement price gouging statutes.

According to the announcement:

“We will not tolerate the exploitation of Georgia consumers as we recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “Violators of this price gouging statute will be punished to the fullest extent possible.”

Citizens are asked to report any suspected incidences of price gouging to the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs at (404) 651-8600 or (800) 869-1123. Any violators of Georgia’s price gouging statute will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

The gas pumps in my neighborhood didn’t have this problem–maybe because fewer of my neighbors have access to the internet.

Free armed tour of Nuevo Laredo, anyone?

According to La Jornada:

“Es un intento de rescatar la mala imagen (sic) que tenemos y darle un empuje a los restaurantes y mercados de artesanías, donde el comercio es casi nulo”, señaló ayer el director de Turismo de Nuevo Laredo, Ramón Garza.

El consejo turístico de la ciudad, vecina de Laredo, Texas, está enviando autobuses a recoger turistas a San Antonio para visitas de un día escoltados por guías y policías en motocicleta.

El servicio, que se ofrece tres veces por semana, comenzó a mediados de agosto y ocurre luego de que más de 115 personas han sido asesinadas este año en Nuevo Laredo en medio de una batalla entre bandas de la droga por el control del tráfico de cocaína, mariguana y heroína.

Rough/sloppy translation:

“It’s an attempt to save the bad imagen that we have and give a boost to the restaurants and artesan markets, where commnonexistentost nonexistdirectorid the direcotr of Turismos de NL, Ramon Garza.

“The tourism board of the city, neighboring Laredo, Texas, is sending buses to San Antonio to pick up tourists for day visits escorted by guides and police on motorcycles.

“The service, which is offered three times a week, began in the middle of August and occurred after more than 115 people have been murdered this year in Nuevo Laredo in the midst of a battle between drug gangs for control of the traffic of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin

Given that many of the deaths in N.L. occurred due to gunfights between police and drug dealers and that some police have been implicated in some of the drug-running, I’m not sure I’d feel that much safer on my day-trip to the artisan market with the police. If they are the targets, why would I want to be near them? And hanging out with a bunch of obviously American gringos on a big bus (with all of their oversized Sombrero purchases)? Will that make me safer? Hmmmm. I doubt it, though the naive may feel safer.

During the day, you’re probably o.k. crossing the border for a little light shopping in the big markets. At night, I wouldn’t go within 100 yards of a bar or nightclub, with or accompaniment accompaniament. But come to think of it, I probably wouldn’t be found near a N.L. nightclub even if it were the safest city in Mexico.

The role of the World Bank in domestic policy

Academics tend to have intense debates about how, when, and how much the World Bank does or does not influence the public policy decisions of developing countries that receive World Bank aid or loans.

According to La Jornada, President Fox’s economic proposals to be presented next week will include some of the World Bank proposals for addressing poverty in Mexico.

The President made the announcment while discussing the results of a recent World Bank study that suggested that poverty is still a serious problem in Mexico, though poverty rates are declining. In attendance at the press conference was Dr. Bourguignon, a VP of the World Bank.

The press conference apparently did not include details about the poverty alleviation plans of the administration. Fox will present his annual state of the union address next week, and more details are likely to appear in the printed Informe de Gobierno that is published concurrently with his address.

Choosing a dissertation committee

Profgrrrrl has some useful advice
and insights into choosing a dissertation committee in the social sciences. I’ve heard horror stories, but was lucky (or wise) in my own committee choices.

Best advice I received? You want your #4 and #5 people to be (at least marginally) helpful but unlikely to create long-term problems. This wasn’t really my strategy, but I can see its virtues.

What I share in common with “W”

Not much. But, I do have trouble remembering names. And I do give my students nicknames to cover up that I can’t remember their names.

I explain to my students the first day of class that I am horrible at remembering names; they should not take it personally. Then, when we do introductions, I ask them to tell us one thing about themselves that we would not necessarily know by looking at them or even eating lunch with them several times a week for a year. Examples are “the [uncool] music artist you like because your parents like them” (mine: Billy Joel) or “the first record/tape/cd you bought” (mine: a 45 of Love Me Tender by John Schneider/Bo Duke) or “a quirky habit you have” (mine: none). I learned this introduction trick as a grad student at UNC. (Paul, you should know who does this….)

And, I use the tidbit to remember my students. For weeks, I can’t remember their names but I remember Guy-who-plays-tuba or Guy-who-is-GT-mascot or Girl-with-50-pairs-of-shoes-not-including-flipflops. After a few weeks, I learn some names, but some students (especially those with common names) are forever doomed to be the violin-player or the Tetris-addict.

For me, the most difficult students to identify and remember are those that look most like their peers. I can hardly tell two white girls with long, straight, brown hair apart, and blonde white boys with baseball caps all blend into one. I have the same problem with old black and white movies, when all the men wear suits and all the women have the same hairdo. They all look the same to me.

They say that Shrub’s penchant for nicknames is either a result of his Skull & Crossbones membership or dyslexia. In my case, maybe it’s mild dyslexic tendencies or maybe I’m on the borderline of the autisim spectrum. The latter may be the more likely since I also tend to engage in highly detailed conversations about things that other people don’t find very interesting, like my tendency to give my students nicknames.

Added: This is a funny NYTimes story about W’s nicknames.

And you thought your back-to-school traffic was bad

Back-to-school traffic in Mexico City resulted in over 200 traffic citations, 80 towed cars, and two arrests. The first day of school apparently created “caos” in the big city.

Old news…

I’ve spent the last week scrubbing cabinets, moving furniture, and fighting fleas. Tonight, I took a break to look for the Terry Gross and Gene Simmons interview that I missed a few years back. I heard about the interview on Wait Wait, and I found an .mp3 of the interview online. (Simmons did not allow NPR to include the interview in the online archives.) There’s also a funny tidbit about Simmons in this Al Franken Fresh Air interview.

Mexican wins asylum in U.S.

A Mexican man was granted asylum in the U.S. because the court detirmined that he would face persecution for being gay and would not receive treatment for AIDS in Mexico.

His lawyers cited widespread persecution and violence against homosexuals in Mexico. They also cited the lack of widespread AIDS treatment. I’m sure anti-immigrant groups will have a field day with this case.

I have written about homophobia in Mexico before. Mexico City does have a lively gay community, but I’m certain that violence, persecution, and prejudices persist.

As a random aside, it seems that the photo used to accompany the BBC story is of a trio that I also took pictures of at the 2005 gay pride march in Mexico City.

Photo included with the article from the 2005 Mexico City gay pride march:

BBC photo


My photo


My photo

Why Atlanta is like Mexico, but without good food and rubber stamps

The only way to initiate water service at a residence is to go to one small office in downtown Atlanta with no public parking nearby and wait for 30 minutes to see a city employee between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. M-F.

(I would hate to see the line at lunchtime when harried workers try to get their service taken care of while government employees get cranky from lack of food. Or, more likely, they go eat and leave people in line.)

This is true even if: 1. you’ve already had water service with the city and can provide an account number in good standing and 2. the water is currently turned on at the residence in the landlord’s name.

You wait 30 minutes to see someone for less than 5 who doesn’t even give you any kind of receipt to prove you were there and requested service. At least in Mexico they would be officious enough to give you a form with 3 rubber stamps to prove you visited the office. And, in Mexico they would have made a big show of asking for my identification, which according to Atlanta rules is required, though no one ever asked to see it.

Gearing up for another social security conflict

Yesterday, the social security union in Mexico submitted its formal contract negotiation request and strike petition. This is part of the normal contract negotiation process, but the strike deadline is midnight on October 15.

A key area of negotiation will be the union’s contractual pension benefits. The union has suggested that it’s willing to consider a reform to its pension system, but is unwilling to accept full privatization or reduction in benefits for current workers.

The social security administration (with the support of other union leaders and business representatives) will try to use last year’s reform to the social security law to threaten the union with bankruptcy in order to get a more dramatic pension concession.

Welcome back party

This morning we had a nice birthday party for our most senior colleague and a welcome back party for me. Angie was super nice and bought a cute Dora the Explorer pinata.

Thank you, Angie!

Pinata Sponge Bob Square Pants was also in attendance.