Thursday, March 30, 2006

Where I'll be this Saturday

The Georgia Tech car show.

posted by Michelle @ 10:41 AM, 0 comments

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

GATech visits Monterrey Tec

My visit in January to Monterrey Tec was covered in the paper there. We met with the student reporter for about 20 minutes, and this was the result. Luckily, I was sitting just to the right of the Dean and didn't make it into the photo.

posted by Michelle @ 7:55 PM, 0 comments

I ♥ la maquina azul

Goooooooooooooooool!.

posted by Michelle @ 7:43 PM, 2 comments

Last week and this week

Last week, I was in San Juan for LASA. Despite the photo of the beach, I only suited up for two hours total. The rest of the time I went to panels or worked (defined loosely, to include meetings with friends and colleagues).



This week, I'm back in ATL working.

posted by Michelle @ 6:38 PM, 0 comments

Monday, March 13, 2006

Indigenous rights in Mexico

Maybe international pressure will encourage the Mexican government to step up efforts to police discriminatory policies by the private sector. Maybe then Wal-Mart owned Superama wouldn't make folks wait in line to spend money in their stores.

posted by Michelle @ 8:48 AM, 0 comments

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Immigrants in GA

And anti-immigrant legislation.

posted by Michelle @ 7:57 AM, 0 comments

Monday, March 06, 2006

Something I've been saying for a while

Trying to enforce border security to stop immigration while not enforcing domestic labor laws makes little sense.

Trying to "seal" the border will only make coyotes and smugglers take more risk with immigrant lives. It also reduces the likelihood that undocumented workers will return to their home countries because it raises the stakes to get back in.

In contrast, employers have fixed places of business, taxpayer id numbers, and should be easier to police. However, doing so would require the Bush administration to crack down on key constituents, including many small-business owners.

So, instead, the administration has taken a contradictory stance in order to placate anti-immigrant voters under the guise of homeland security while quietly ignoring illegal behavior by employers.

posted by Michelle @ 11:09 AM, 4 comments

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Head of ISSSTE suggests comprehensive reform necessary

And not just a reform of ISSSTE. At a recent public event, he spoke of the need to reform the entire Mexican social security system (IMSS, ISSSTE, and by extension FFAA, etc.). This is not a new idea--the Deputy who sits at the head of the Social Security Commission in the Chamber of Deputies mentioned the same thing to me in an interview and in formal press announcements.

Unfortunately, systematic reform is unlikely. Those with better benefits and access to services are unlikely to give them up to be joined with other workers and it would be too expensive to give the top benefits to all workers. Piecemeal and fragmented reforms are more likely.

posted by Michelle @ 6:48 PM, 0 comments

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Today and tomorrow

I'll be at this pension conference.

posted by Michelle @ 9:29 AM, 0 comments