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11 Mexican Inventions
the World Embraces
by
According to data from the Mexican Industrial Property Institute (IMPI), at least 200,000 Mexican inventions are registered or patented in the country. Check out this list: you’re going to be surprised.
1. Color television
In 1940, at the age of 22, Guillermo González Camarena developed a system for transmitting color images on television: the STSC System. He financed it with the royalties he was paid for a song he had written: “Río Colorado”. In 1942, he got the patent, and four years later, he made the first color broadcast, from some offices in Mexico City He also founded the Majestic brand of television sets. Camarena’s legacy lives on in the initials of the station he founded in 1952: XHGC, Channel 5.
2. Tortilla machines
At first it was a head with laminated rollers and a conveyor chain that worked to transfer the product to a comal griddle. Everardo Rodríguez Arce and Luis Romero created it in 1904 and produced 16,000 tortillas a day. In 1947, Fausto Celorio developed a model that did the entire process automatically, allowing for production industrialization.
3. Toilet ball cock
In 1790, philosopher, priest, theologian, astronomer, cartographer, historian, naturalist, botanist, geographer and journalist José Antonio de Alzate invented the “automatic floating shutter”, or ball cock, that prevents overflow in water tanks, cisterns and toilets. A true character in his day, both religion and scientific research were vital to Alzate. The ball cock appeared when he became aware of the need for a tap to cut off water flow when a font is filled.
4. Birth control pill
In 1951, as a young chemist, Luis Ernesto Miramontes was asked to synthesize a progesterone that could replace injections for women who suffered miscarriages. He came up with norethindrone, a substance extracted from the tuber dioscorea mexicana, or Mexican yam, capable of halting ovulation. It was the basis for the birth control pill. Although he worked with George Rosenkran (director of the lab) and Carl Djerassi (research director), Miramontes was the one who synthesized the compound.
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Washington Post
Ambassadors: Treat Mexico as a strategic partner
14 February 2017
Mexico is of enormous importance to the United States. We have strong strategic interests in a relationship of respect and collaboration with Mexico while we work through differences on trade, security and migration.
U.S.-Mexico relations touch the daily lives of more Americans than ties with any other country, whether through culture, commerce or travel. U.S. prosperity and the security of our homeland are deeply affected by the type of relationship we have with our southern neighbor.
Much can be improved between Mexico and the United for the good of both countries, but tackling these challenges need not be a win-lose proposition. Both countries can gain security and prosperity. Reviving the animosity and “distance” that characterized our relationship in the 1970s or ’80s is dangerous and runs counter to our interests.
The six of us have served as U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, managing the ever-improving relationship across Democratic and Republican administrations since the late 1980s....
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Huffington Post Mexico
Por qué los abogados son más importantes hoy que nunca
15 February 2017
"Lo primero que debemos hacer es matar a todos los abogados" (The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers) (William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Parte II, acto IV, escena II, línea 73)
Debemos poner en su justa dimensión la relevancia de lo que está pasando en los Estados Unidos de América este inicio de 2017. En particular, quisiera referirme a la lucha por que prevalezca el imperio de la ley y se conserve el Estado de derecho, drama que está siendo observado en todo el mundo con ansiedad, curiosidad y ciertamente preocupación.
Es particularmente grave la afrenta que el poder ejecutivo ha hecho al poder judicial, bajo la complacencia y complicidad de un poder legislativo pasmado y permisivo.
Es particularmente emotivo ver como el poder judicial no ha vacilado ante dicha afrenta y que los abogados de dicha nación se han levantado para señalar y denunciar la peligrosa violación a la independencia de poderes y el imperio de la ley sobre los gobernantes.
Siempre habíamos dado por un hecho que en los Estados Unidos de América el comportamiento se haría siempre en estricto apego a la ley prevaleciendo el Estado de derecho, que las leyes serían públicas, certeras y que sus efectos no serían retroactivos. Sin embargo, vemos que no necesariamente todo es así...
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Financial Times
America’s abuse of Mexico is an assault on free trade
by Felipe Calderon
15 February 2017
Days into his presidency, Donald Trump’s decisions have opened confrontations on several fronts and confirmed our fears: not only is he a threat to international trade and global growth, but also to the international order, the environment, racial and religious minorities, Nato, the UN and a long et cetera. Unfortunately, President Trump has shown a special interest in abusively hitting Mexico, knowing that there is a huge asymmetry between our countries. As long as he believes that “every nation” has been taking advantage of the US, Mr Trump’s attitude towards Mexico — threatening, insulting, with an intent to humiliate — points to a potential pattern. How should other countries react? Mr Trump has argued that the North American Free Trade Agreement is unfair because there is a trade deficit for the US. The accusation is absurd and reveals a misunderstanding of basic macroeconomic concepts. This protectionist theme is reminiscent of the worst demagogic regimes in Latin America and their failures. Mr Trump ignores how successful Nafta has been for the US and the whole North America region...
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The Telegraph
Heineken boss praises British pub 'institution' ahead of Punch Taverns takeover
15 February 2017
he boss of global brewing giant Heineken has said that British pubs are an “institution” that continue to provide great opportunities for business as the company presses on with its acquisition of pub chain Punch Taverns.
Heineken last year won the backing of the Punch Taverns board for a £403m takeover alongside private equity firm Patron Capital, with its shareholders approving the offer last week.
The move will see the brewer acquire nearly 2,000 British pubs and follows Heineken’s entry into the UK pub market in 2008, when it took over Scottish & Newcastle.
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Financial Times
Why currency manipulation rhetoric will grow louder
16 February 2017
It is not just equities that are rebounding this month. The dollar is up almost 2 per cent against a basket of its peers as it resumes an upward path that most in the foreign exchange market believe is the natural consequence of the economic policies Donald Trump has vowed to deliver. Given the US president has suggested he prefers a weaker dollar, its fresh strength has left the market expecting the White House to ratchet up the accusations of currency manipulation against trading partners that were a big part of his campaign. As investors and traders ponder how big a role sparring over currency manipulation will have this year, here are some of the questions: What is Trump’s accusation? In simple terms: that countries have been weakening their currencies at the expense of US competitiveness and jobs. Mexico, Germany and Japan — significant trading partners of the US — have come under fire on the issue since Mr Trump took office. China, which accounted for almost half of America’s $763bn trade deficit in goods with the rest of the world in 2016, is seen by currency strategists as the president’s chief target...
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Bloomberg
Seeking Central Banker to Tame Flailing Peso; Mexico-Born a Must
16 February 2017
It’s now 11 weeks into the hunt for a new central bank chief, and there’s still no word from Mexico on who will replace its star policy maker Agustin Carstens. No wonder every conference or dinner party of economists turns into a guessing game about who will take Carstens’s spot when he resigns. The long wait -- Carstens leaves in July to head the Bank of International Settlements-- has only fed the rumor mill as columnists constantly add new names to the roster of candidates. The information gap has grown so vast that one columnist now writes Carstens won’t even step down as planned, and will stick around until December.
The job comes with a robust list of requirements: for starters, the next central banker needs to be born in Mexico and be 65 years old or younger. The candidate must rein in surging inflation, shore up a currency pummeled by President Donald J. Trump and keep a stumbling economy afloat, while preventing a potential, and devastating credit downgrade. We spoke with 20 Mexico and U.S.-based analysts in banks and research firms including Barclays Plc and Citigroup Inc., who told us who their ideal candidate would be, as well as who they believe would actually end up getting the post:
Alejandro Diaz de Leon, a long-time Mexican government official who just joined the five-member Banxico board this year, and who economists consider to be dovish, is by far the contender seen as best positioned for the job...
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Washington Post
FIFA wants shared 2026 World Cup. The U.S., Mexico and Canada already were planning on it.
16 February 2017
Soccer leaders in the United States, Mexico and Canada already were talking about a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup, so they likely were well prepared for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s announcement Thursday that FIFA will encourage bidders for soccer’s biggest tournament to partner up.
“We will encourage co-hosting for the World Cup because we need FIFA to show we are reasonable and we have to think about sustainability long-term,” Infantino said, per Reuters. “[We could] … maybe bring together two, three, four countries who can jointly present a project with three, four, five stadiums each. We will certainly encourage it. Ideally the countries will be close to each other.”
The idea that one nation should host large sporting events like the World Cup or the Olympics has come under question of late considering the staggering costs associated with building facilities that become underused once the event ends...
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The Guardian
Life forms that could be 50,000 years old found in caves in Mexico
18 February 2017
In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.
The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, in Mexico’s northern Chihuahua state, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese, said Penelope Boston, head of Nasa’s Astrobiology Institute.
“It’s super life,” said Boston, who presented the discovery on Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston. She said the creatures were like time machines...
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Financial Times
Iberdrola chairman denounces EU energy rules as ‘Kafkaesque’
19 February 2017.
The chairman of Iberdrola has denounced Europe’s energy regulations as “Kafkaesque”, and warned the current regime encourages utilities to keep polluting coal plants running rather than invest in green power generation for the long term. “There is not enough capacity to satisfy expected demand,” Ignacio Galán told the Financial Times. “What is happening now is that we are artificially preserving power plants that are obsolete and that would be closed if it were not for [government] incentives [to maintain capacity]. At the same time, we are not building new gas-fired power plants.” Iberdrola is one of Europe’s biggest utilities, with a large presence spread across the US, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the UK, where it owns Scottish Power. The Madrid-based group, which claims to be to the largest generator of wind power in the world, is due to publish full-year results on February 22. Mr Galán’s comments highlight frustration in the industry as power groups struggle to balance competing demands from politicians to combat climate change and keep the lights on without raising consumers’ energy bills.
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Excelsior
UKMX, una relación que traspasa fronteras
20 February 2017
Graham Brown-Martin, fundador del think tank Aprendiendo Sin Fronteras (Learning Without Frontiers), menciona que lo que transforma a la educación es la nueva forma en que el mundo se está conectando, y no puedo estar más de acuerdo con él. El pasado jueves reconocimos, a través de los Study UK Alumni Awards 2017, los logros de mexicanos destacados
quienes tuvieron la oportunidad de aventurarse a estudiar en Reino Unido y quienes a lo largo de los años han sido parte clave del desarrollo de la creciente alianza entre Reino Unido y México.
Todos ellos coincidieron en los beneficios que les trajo estudiar en instituciones británicas de educación superior. Las ventajas de esta experiencia se han visto reflejadas no sólo en ellos, sino también en sus comunidades y en México. Esta relación es el vivo testimonio de la influencia que tiene la educación de Reino Unido en todo el mundo y me da mucho gusto que a lo largo de la década pasada, más de 25 mil mexicanos han realizado sus estudios en mi país.
Muchos de estos exalumnos han logrado ocupar posiciones destacadas en el ámbito público y privado. Por ejemplo, Jorge Sigal, director del Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras y ganador del Study UK Alumni Award en la categoría de logros profesionales, reconoció la importancia de invertir en la educación, así como que estudiar en Reino Unido fue el inicio de los mejores años de su vida. Por otro lado...
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Bloomberg
Volatile Peso Creates Winners and Losers in Mexico M&A Deals
20 February 2017.
The weak peso is complicating transactions involving Mexican companies, driving up prices in local currency for acquisitions abroad or creating an unforeseen bargain for a foreign buyer, with at least one deal being revalued to adjust for the changes.
When Mexico City-based Coca-Cola Femsa SAB agreed, with partner Coca-Cola Co., to acquire the AdeS soy-based beverage business from London-based Unilever NV for $575 million in June, the deal was valued at 10.6 billion pesos. Now the peso-denominated cost is about 9 percent higher. Like other Mexican public companies, Coke Femsa has at least some hedges for currency risk, but it has to book its holdings in pesos for accounting purposes.
Likewise, Grupo Lala SAB said in May it would buy certain U.S. assets from Laguna Dairy for $246 million. Currency weakness has added more than 10 percent to the peso-denominated price tag for the dairy company. The deal’s dollar price remains unchanged, Alberto Arellano, Lala’s chief financial officer, said in an e-mail...
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The Independent
Google steps up fight against fake news by expanding fact-check tool
20 February 2017.
Google has launched its Fact Check tag in three more countries, as it steps up its efforts to combat fake news.
The label will now appear in the expand story box in Google News search results and the Google News and Weather app in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
The feature first launched in the US last October, ahead of the Presidential election, and has since been rolled out in France and Germany.
Google and Facebook have faced a great deal of criticism for the spread of fake news, and both companies say they’re committed to fighting it.
“We have to take the fake news problem very, very seriously and think about what we can do there,” ...
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