That’s according to this article. No doubt the increase is in part due to increased migration to the US but another part is also probably due to the increased economic activity in the US over the same period.
According to some, remittances from workers in the US to their families in Mexico is now the second largest component of Mexico’s economy, after petroleum and before tourism.
I remember in one of my international economics classes the lecturer stating that sometimes the US government may not give as much fincial aid to foreign countries as other “industrialized nations” but that we do give more in remittances. He argued that this should be considered when we look at foreign aid.
But I disagree, I made the argument that this is like given your slave a Pig on Christmas and then saying see I give you assitance that I didn’t have to. Working for pay and then spending your pay abroad should that really count as foriegn aid?
Michelle, would you count it as foreign aid?
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I wouldn’t count it as foreign aid. I do, however, think that Mexican politicians do not acknowledge the ways in which emigration to the U.S. helps reduce unemployment in Mexico. They (Mexican politicians) are more willing to acknowledge the importance of remittances for domestic consumption (and growth, to the extent that consumers are buying domestically produced goods and services).